Launch, monetize, and scale exponentially with Xsolla’s blockbuster gaming products and solutions

The Silicon Review

In the digital world we live in, video games are gaining immense popularity. Furthermore, to foster this growth, video game commerce companies play a huge role in selling video games to the users. They help game developers identify the missing elements in the game, rectify them and also market the game in an optimum manner so as to increase the sales and the revenue of the game developers. This helps developers and video game companies to spend less time in back-end operations and sales, and spend more time connecting with players of the game and understand their views about the game.

Globally there are various video game business engines delivering excellent services, but Xsolla stands out from the rest. Xsolla is a global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the video game industry. As an innovative leader in in-game commerce, Xsolla’s mission is to solve the inherent complexities of global distribution, marketing, and monetization to help our partners reach more geographies, generate more revenue and create relationships with gamers worldwide. Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms.

In conversation with Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla

Q. What was the motivation behind starting Xsolla?

From the beginning, we’ve been on a mission to democratize the business of video games, so game makers can focus on making great content. At Xsolla, we want to level the playing field so developers of any size have the tools to maximize their business globally and at scale. We saw how hard it was for developers to develop direct-to-consumer relationships with their players, so we stepped up and provided everything anyone would need to run their own games business, just like they were one of the biggest companies in the world.

Q. There are other reputed companies in the market, how are you a better service provider?

Xsolla helps game developers and publishers of all sizes (indie to enterprise) get their games into the world and monetize them. Xsolla provides the tools to create a successful game with our all-in-one platform connecting developers to new marketing channels, funding, investment opportunities, IP holders, and more. Additionally, the blog includes a wide range of free ebooks covering industry topics related to the business of video games, including game sales practices, payment methods and processing, marketing materials, and more.

Q. How do you protect the interest of the investors?

We provide several funding solutions where we connect developers with potential investors or publishers, but Xsolla doesn’t make any investment advice. We’re simply providing a variety of ways that developers and investors can come together through several different programs. First, there’s Funding Club. Whenever we encounter an exciting game concept or demo, we share it with over 100 accredited investors and publishers in our Funding Club.

We then step back and let them figure out their deals without us, as we’re not making any recommendations or taking a fee. This is simply Xsolla doing its part to help developers get the connections they need to succeed. Then we have our recently announced Accelerator program, where Xsolla provides some early funding to promising games and connects them with advisors via a traditional accelerator program. In this case, the investment is our own. But what’s likely most interesting in this conversation is our Game Investment Platform, a marketplace connecting developers with accredited investors who can self-direct investments into specific games via the platform. We have several safety mechanisms to ensure that investors don’t over-invest in any single game and can recoup their investments across multiple games. Investments can also be structured to release in milestones, providing minimal exposure throughout development. It’s similar to slate financing against revenue streams.

Q. How do you market your services?

We have a great marketing team that is active globally. We employ various marketing techniques; such as paid advertising and social media, but what works for us are events and partnerships with industry associations. We invest significantly in our presence at events and key industry partnerships, far beyond our competitors. Every week of the year, you’ll find Xsolla at one or more video game events. We also hold quarterly Release Weeks, employing a thunderclap approach to announcing all the great new things we’ve been working on.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

The future is looking great for Xsolla. We’ve significantly expanded our market over the past year and are continuing to find traction, helping game makers go direct to consumers. Since we’re only focused on the video game industry, we continue to add features to our products that are uniquely designed to help this particular customer. This includes new products on the horizon that further support our partners develop better direct relationships with their players across all platforms.

Meet the leaders behind the success of Xsolla

Konstantin Golubitsky (KG) attended UCLA Anderson School of Management, Stanford Business School, and Harvard Business School, receiving many of the same executive certifications. KG began his journey with Xsolla as a systems architect, then moved up the ranks to CTO. He was officially announced to employees as the new CEO of Xsolla in late November 2021. Golubitsky lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters and enjoys traveling, chess, and playing music (piano, clarinet, and violin) in his free time.

Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla, is an award-winning Interactive Executive and Studio Head with experience driving operations and go-to-market strategies across all segments of the video game industry. His extensive background and skill set include leading multi-team studios and worldwide interactive business units with over 300 employees at companies like Activision, DreamWorks Animation, Survios, Skydance, and Xsolla. An avid gamer, Chris leveraged that passion into a successful career making games. Having direct experience designing and producing over 50 games generating more than $1B in sales, Chris possesses a rare and successful combination of creative and business acumen in an ever-changing industry. His triple-threat skill set combines a developer's design and production skills, the company and strategic understanding of a publisher, and a media executive's brand and marketing sensibilities.