How to sell to Heads of People at Gaming companies
Heads of People at gaming companies prioritize employee retention rates, as high turnover can disrupt game development cycles. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of the unique challenges in talent acquisition and retention within the fast-paced gaming industry, such as burnout from crunch periods or the need for diverse skill sets in game design.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 544 gaming company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- high employee turnover
- burnout during crunch
- difficulty in finding diverse talent
- team morale issues post-launch
The playbook
- 01
Identify studios with recent layoffs
Use LinkedIn or industry news to find game studios that have recently laid off employees. This indicates a potential need for support in rebuilding their teams, making them more receptive to conversations about talent acquisition and employee engagement solutions.
- 02
Target teams launching new titles
Filter for companies actively promoting new game releases. Heads of People at these organizations are focused on hiring to meet production deadlines, making them more likely to engage with offers that can streamline their recruitment processes.
- 03
Connect over industry awards or events
Research upcoming gaming industry awards or events where the studio is nominated. Mentioning their recent nominations or participation in your outreach can create a connection and show that you are invested in their success and industry trends.
- 04
Address burnout and retention strategies
In your messaging, directly address the common pain of employee burnout during game development cycles. Offer insights or strategies that can help them improve employee wellness and retention, which are critical for maintaining productivity in their studios.
- 05
Suggest a meeting after a major game launch
Timing is key. Reach out to schedule a call shortly after a major game launch when they may be assessing team performance and morale. This is when they are likely to be open to discussing improvements in their people management practices.
Can gaming companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 544 gaming companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 11.5% of 1–10-person companies against 58.5% of the largest — 47 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Supporting your team post-launch
- Strategies for reducing turnover
- Improving employee engagement
Questions
- Why do Heads of People in gaming ignore outreach about general HR tools?
- They often receive generic pitches that don't address the specific challenges of the gaming industry, such as high turnover and project-based workloads. Tailoring the message to their unique context is crucial for capturing their attention.
- What are the biggest challenges for Heads of People in game studios?
- They face unique challenges like managing talent during crunch periods, ensuring diversity in hiring, and maintaining team morale after high-pressure project launches. These factors make their role particularly demanding and nuanced.
- How can I make my outreach relevant to gaming HR leaders?
- Focus on industry-specific issues such as retention strategies during game development cycles or tools that help manage employee well-being. Demonstrating an understanding of the gaming culture and its pressures will resonate more effectively.
- What timing is best for reaching out to gaming HR leaders?
- Timing your outreach after major game launches or during hiring surges can be effective. These periods often lead to increased scrutiny on team dynamics and employee satisfaction, making them more open to discussions about HR solutions.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
Try it on your site