How do you balance between building in-house tools vs. partnering or acquiring?

At Xsolla, our approach to innovation is rooted in strategic balance, we build where our expertise gives us a competitive edge and partner where collaboration adds greater value. We focus on developing in-house tools when differentiation, scalability, and deep industry insight are essential. This philosophy led us to build our own payments infrastructure, web shop platform, and loyalty systems, solutions that demand the performance, security, and flexibility only purpose-built technology can deliver. However, we also recognize the power of partnership. By integrating with trusted leaders like AppsFlyer and Adjust, we give our partners access to world-class attribution and analytics without duplicating existing excellence. Every decision at Xsolla is guided by one core question: Will this deliver more value to developers while reducing friction? Whether we build, partner, or acquire, our goal remains the same to create a unified, developer-first ecosystem that empowers game creators to thrive globally.

Which regions or types of developers are under-penetrated for Xsolla, and how do you plan to expand into them?

Xsolla sees significant growth potential across three key segments: emerging global regions, mid-tier mobile studios, and creator-led ecosystems. In fast-growing regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, gaming adoption is accelerating, but infrastructure, especially in payments, regulation, and distribution, remains fragmented. To bridge this gap, Xsolla is localizing its tools, expanding access to regional payment methods, and offering compliance support tailored to each market. For mid-sized mobile studios, many are now exploring direct-to-consumer channels but often lack the expertise or tools to execute effectively. Xsolla addresses this with its plug-and-play Web Shop platform, loyalty solutions, and data-driven analytics that simplify D2C expansion and boost engagement. Additionally, Xsolla is deepening its presence in creator-driven ecosystems like Roblox, UEFN, and other community-based platforms, providing modular integrations that empower agile, independent teams. Across all these initiatives, Xsolla’s mission is consistent equipping developers everywhere with the technology and support needed to accelerate growth and reach global audiences.

In today’s environment of global regulation, how does Xsolla ensure compliance across different regions?

In an increasingly complex global regulatory landscape, Xsolla takes a proactive, infrastructure-first approach to ensure full compliance across all regions. Acting as the Merchant of Record for its partners, Xsolla manages critical areas such as tax calculation and remittance, data privacy, chargebacks, and refund processes, allowing developers to operate confidently in multiple markets without the burden of navigating local regulations. The company continuously monitors evolving policies, including frameworks like the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and U.S. consumer protection standards, to keep its systems updated in real time. With compliance coverage spanning over 200 geographies, Xsolla effectively offloads risk while simplifying cross-border operations for its partners. This approach not only safeguards developers from legal and financial exposure but also empowers them to focus on creativity and growth. In essence, Xsolla’s compliance infrastructure operates silently in the background, ensuring global trust, transparency, and seamless business continuity.

What emerging trends in gaming monetization or player behavior do you see as the biggest opportunities?

The gaming industry is undergoing a major transformation in how developers monetize and engage with players, opening up exciting new opportunities. One of the most significant shifts is the rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C) models, which are rapidly becoming the norm for mobile and cross-platform games. By selling directly, developers can retain 20–25% more revenue per transaction, strengthen brand loyalty, and build enduring relationships with their players. Another key trend is hyper-personalization—players now expect tailored experiences where in-game offers, pricing, and rewards align with their unique behaviors and playstyles. Developers leveraging data-driven personalization are seeing measurable increases in player spending and retention. Lastly, there’s a growing fusion of commerce and community, where social features like referrals, group gifting, and collaborative rewards transform transactions into shared, social experiences. Collectively, these trends point to a single, powerful direction: enabling developers to own and optimize the entire player journey from engagement to monetization.

How do you handle refund and dispute management to maintain trust?

At Xsolla, maintaining trust between developers and players is central to everything we do, especially when it comes to refunds and dispute management. We recognize that every chargeback or refund request represents a critical touchpoint in the player relationship, one that can either strengthen or weaken confidence in the brand. To manage this effectively, Xsolla oversees the entire process as the Merchant of Record, using systems purpose-built for the unique dynamics of the gaming industry. Our fraud detection and prevention tools leverage two decades of transactional data, advanced analytics, and machine learning to identify suspicious behavior while protecting legitimate players. This precision allows us to successfully resolve over 60% of chargeback cases—more than double the industry average, minimizing financial loss and operational complexity for developers. The result is a seamless, transparent, and fair resolution process that safeguards both players’ trust and developers’ reputations, ensuring long-term loyalty and sustainable business growth.

Tell us about the founding team of Xsolla, and how the team has steered it to success.

Xsolla was founded by people who believed deeply in the creative potential of games and who saw how much of that potential was being lost to operational friction. Our founding team wasn’t focused on hype or headline growth. They were focused on infrastructure: the hard, often invisible systems that turn great games into sustainable businesses. That mindset has shaped everything we do. We’ve never tried to be the flashiest brand in the room. Instead, we’ve focused on being the most reliable, the most thoughtful, and the most aligned with long-term developer success. Over time, we’ve built a leadership team with deep experience across technology, finance, gaming, and global commerce. But we’ve also stayed grounded in our original mission: to quietly solve the biggest challenges facing game businesses without asking them to compromise on vision, control, or ownership. That’s how we’ve grown, and that’s how we’ll keep delivering all the things developers need, for the next 20 years and beyond.

“Empowering developers to launch, scale, and monetize without limits.”

“Where global payments, player engagement, and growth unite for gaming success.”