Presented by Xsolla
Xsolla founder Shurick Agapitov often says, “great games can come from anywhere,” and that’s the motivation behind Xsolla Funding, an umbrella that encompasses many programs, including the Xsolla Funding Club (XFC) and Accelerator, as well as Xsolla Funding’s popular Rapid Rounds events. It’s about helping developers understand the business and how to run one, as well as connecting them with investors.
“We’re all gamers ourselves,” says Justin Berenbaum, VP strategic planning at Xsolla & GM Xsolla Funding Club. Our mission is to help more great games find the funding they need to get made.”
For investors, it’s an opportunity to significantly diversify their portfolios with vetted high-quality games, and quite possibly their next big hit. For Xsolla Funding, it’s primarily about the matchmaking — they’re not after any direct returns, Berenbaum says.
“A lot of folks were surprised that we operate this without asking for anything in exchange,” he says. “We’re not trying to sell something, or make money directly from this. Of course, we hope they want to use Xsolla solutions, but we can’t see that business unless games are made and sold.”
Here’s a look at what Xsolla Funding has on tap for developers and investors alike.
Xsolla Funding Club
The Xsolla Funding Club is a curated matchmaking platform for developers, publishers and investors, set up to facilitate introductions and encourage independent connections, a one-stop shop for developers, publishers and investors to get in front of each other. Membership for developers is application-based, focused on finding games and studios at a professional level, with a pitch that’s ready to be taken seriously by investors and publishers.
“We’re looking for studios that understand the difference between building a dream and building a business,” Berenbaum explains. “We believe the studios have to stay in business long enough to be successful, and often that’s well after the launch of the game. If they’re not positioned to run a business, they’re out of business before they have a chance to make money.”
Last year the Xsolla Funding Club platform saw significant growth, welcoming 295 new games and 91 new investors, bringing the total number of current games to 660 and the total number of XFC investors to 299. Plus, in 2023, 31 games from developers in the club found funding, with a collective total investment of more than $45 million.
Among them:
Lost in Play by Happy Juice Games
This charming point and click adventure game quickly found funding on XFC after the studio’s initial funding plans fell through. They’re the first studio from Israel to be nominated for an Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences D.I.C.E. Award — essentially the Academy Award for the gaming industry. The recently published mobile version also won iPad Game of the Year from Apple for 2023.
Toy Tactics by Kraken Empire
Toy Tactics secured early funding, but needed additional funds and marketing help for the game’s full release. Several funding opportunities emerged in just a few weeks after they joined XFC. The studio quickly found a publisher, Joystick Ventures, and is now in Early Access on Steam.
FixFox by Jaroslav Meloun
After two challenging years on the hunt for funding, solo developer Jaroslav Meloun found a match for the highly acclaimed FixFox on XFC in just a month. Backed by Joystick Ventures, the game is currently available on Steam.
The Xsolla Funding Accelerator program
The Xsolla Funding Accelerator functions much like a traditional accelerator. From the batch of games that are approved for XFC, the team hunts for games that have potential, but have been overlooked by investors and publishers. Help comes in the form of early funding, and expert feedback on developer builds, pitches and other portfolio essentials. Often, they’ll need introductions to specialists, or to be pointed to a resource.
“Publishers and investors now are not really investing in games — they’re investing in a business and its ability to deliver on a game,” Berenbaum says. “We’re aiming to teach developers the difference, because it’s easier than ever to make a game and harder than ever to be successful.”
Nine games went through the first accelerator process a little over a year ago. And now Kautki Cave Studio has released “Flame Keeper” in early access, while Magic Hazard and its game “Memory Lost” and Cheers Studio with “Neanderthallica” have both secured publishers. Hack the Publisher also launched “Vengeance of Mr. Peppermint” and initiated the prototyping phase for their next game. And in 2024, new partnerships, now in the works, will be announced.
“The team is continuously enhancing the program, aiming to make it more accessible for studios and offering enhanced educational resources and personalized mentorship,” Berenbaum says. “Xsolla Accelerator is poised for significant evolution this year, so we hope developers and investors will stay tuned.”
Rapid Rounds: 10 minutes can change everything
The Rapid Rounds pitch event gets studios in front of 20 to 40 investors and publishers in one location to pitch live and in person, with some casual networking before and after. It’s six games in 60 minutes, with each game getting eight to 10 minutes to pitch — “ten minutes that can change everything,” Berenbaum says.
The Xsolla Funding team works with selected developers to refine and polish pitches to a shine, ensuring they can get through the key elements of the pitch in under eight minutes, including a gameplay video, leaving one or two minutes for questions. They’re looking at games that came through Funding Club and got some early interest, but didn’t get the traction they deserved, with an eye toward a well-rounded slate of genres, budgets and platforms.
The company threw three pitch events in 2023, at GDC, Gamescom and G-Star, including a total of 18 games, several of which have already directly gotten deals or funding (which will be announced later in 2024) while some developers leveraged the expertise they honed to find funding shortly after. The pitch event will be back at GDC again this year, bigger and better — plus there are plans in the works to launch an online Rapid Rounds event, to make it even more accessible for developers, investors and publishers around the world.
“Most of the feedback on the events have been really positive,” Berenbaum says. “Many of these investors and publishers have talked before, but never met. There’s a bit of friendly competition, and it’s facilitated some interesting conversations. We’ve even seen a couple of cases where investors have decided to co-invest on a larger project. And getting everyone in a room together also gives us an opportunity to learn, as well as provide active feedback.”
Is there a secret to success?
Being a successful developer in the game industry is much more than making a game now, Berenbaum says. Making a game has gotten easier, but finding funding and making money has gotten a lot more difficult, with so many games available, and even more demands on people’s time and other distractions, and investors are very aware of that. Getting their attention and just getting out into the market requires a lot of perseverance on the business side of things, and it’s not a walk in the park.
“Creators don’t want to do this side of the business, I get it. Pitching is not exciting and it’s not fun,” he says. “But you know what’s exciting? Getting the money to make your dream. You have to push it. There are so many resources out there, and you have to put as much into the business side as things as you put into the game, if you want to be successful.”
Right now, the Xsolla Funding Club hosts 660 games and 299 investors, and since its inception 176 games have been funded — amounting to over $127 million dollars. This year they’re hoping to top their record, Berenbaum adds.
“My goal for the end of the year was 250, so we blew that away,” he says. “My goal was always to get to 500 investors and publishers on the platform. It was about creating an ecosystem to find more opportunities for the games in markets around the world, the developers who can’t travel to the big industry shows. I’m happy with the achievements, but there’s so much more I want to do. Our long-term goal is to create $1 billion worth of funding for the industry. That’s our north star. The numbers mount a little more slowly because we’re funding much smaller projects. But in my view, that’s where most of the innovation comes from. The indies of today are the double-A and triple-A of tomorrow.”
Want to learn how to shoot your shot — or find the next big thing? Visit the Xsolla Funding website to learn more about Xsolla Funding and the myriad opportunities it offers for developers, investors and publishers at every stage of the game.
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