How to sell to IT Directors at Gaming companies
IT Directors at gaming companies prioritize system uptime and performance metrics, often measured by the percentage of downtime during peak gaming hours. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their unique tech stack and operational challenges, such as integrating new technologies without disrupting ongoing game development processes.
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
- frequent system outages
- integration delays
- performance bottlenecks
- budget constraints on new tech
The playbook
- 01
Identify studios launching new titles
Use industry news sources like Gamasutra or GameSpot to find game studios that are set to launch new titles. Focus on those that are expanding their tech infrastructure to support these launches, as they are likely to be open to solutions that enhance performance and reliability.
- 02
Analyze performance metrics from recent game releases
Look for reviews and player feedback on platforms like Steam or Metacritic to identify games that suffered from technical issues. This signals potential pain points for the IT Director, making them more receptive to discussions about solutions that improve system performance.
- 03
Reach out post-launch with specific insights
Contact the IT Director shortly after a new game release, referencing specific performance issues noted in reviews. Highlight how your solution can address these issues, making it clear that you understand their immediate challenges and can provide timely assistance.
- 04
Follow up on integration concerns
In your follow-up, address common objections such as integration complexity with existing systems. Provide examples of how similar studios successfully integrated your solutions without disrupting their development cycles. This shows you are aware of their operational realities and can offer viable solutions.
- 05
Schedule a demo during peak development phases
Propose a demo during a time when the studio is in a critical development phase, such as a major update or game launch. This aligns your outreach with their operational calendar and increases the likelihood of booking a call when they are actively seeking solutions to enhance their tech capabilities.
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
- Improving game performance
- Solutions for system outages
- Tech upgrades for new titles
Questions
- Why do IT Directors in gaming ignore outreach about infrastructure solutions?
- IT Directors in gaming often receive numerous outreach messages that lack a deep understanding of their specific challenges, such as game launch pressures and integration difficulties. If the outreach does not clearly relate to their current projects or pain points, it is likely to be overlooked.
- What common objections do IT Directors have about new tech?
- IT Directors may raise concerns about integration complexity, potential downtime during implementation, and the overall cost versus benefit of new technologies. Addressing these objections with clear examples of successful implementations can help alleviate their concerns.
- What metrics do IT Directors prioritize?
- IT Directors in gaming prioritize metrics like system uptime, response times during peak usage, and the impact of tech changes on game performance. They need solutions that can demonstrate measurable improvements in these areas to justify any changes.
- How can I demonstrate value to an IT Director in gaming?
- To demonstrate value, focus on their unique challenges, such as system performance during game launches. Providing case studies or data that show how your solution has improved uptime or reduced integration times for similar studios can make your outreach compelling.
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.
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