Beyond Moving Keys: Four Things the Games Industry Needs to Rethink About Distribution

Recently, Julian spoke with GamesIndustry.biz about the changing role of digital distribution and why product visibility requires a more cohesive, structural approach.

One theme stood out throughout the conversation: many of the industry’s biggest challenges can’t be solved by adding more layers, more manual processes, or more disconnected tools. They require better connections.

And when businesses get those connections right, the impact can be significant. Across publishers working through VaultN, we’ve seen an average uplift of around 30% in additional revenue and 20% more units sold by complementing existing strategies with trusted third-party distribution opportunities.

Here are four takeaways from that discussion.

1. The growth opportunity is bigger than many publishers realize

Many publishers assume they’ve already captured most of their distribution potential through their existing channels.

In reality, expanding into trusted third-party ecosystems can unlock significant incremental growth.

Across publishers working through VaultN, we’ve seen an average uplift of around 30% in additional revenue and 20% more units sold simply by complementing existing strategies with carefully selected third-party distribution opportunities.

The lesson isn’t that one channel replaces another.

It’s that ecosystems outperform silos.

2. Distribution is no longer about moving products from A to B

For years, distribution was often viewed as an operational function. Deliver the keys, process the transactions, and move on.

But today’s reality looks very different.

Players discover and purchase games through a growing number of channels. Publishers work with multiple partners. Retailers compete for attention while trying to differentiate themselves. Communities and creators increasingly shape buying decisions.

As Julian put it:

“I think there’s a change where even in the narrower sense of the meaning of distribution, it’s no longer about just moving keys from A to B. It’s about really connecting ecosystems together and ultimately reaching players where they feel comfortable making a purchase decision and where they feel able to receive new products or be exposed to new products.”

Distribution has evolved from a logistics exercise into an ecosystem challenge.

3. The industry doesn’t need another silo

When problems emerge, the instinct is often to build another platform, another dashboard, and/or another process.

But fragmentation is already one of the industry’s biggest obstacles.

Disconnected systems create inefficiencies. They limit visibility. They make collaboration harder. And they prevent businesses from seeing the bigger picture.

For VaultN, the answer wasn’t to create another isolated destination.

“The idea is to give the toolkits to the industry to stop it from working against itself, and to work together. For us, the solution was not to, hey, let’s build another platform, but that there are great platforms and channels out there, and we need to essentially enable better cooperation across those.”

The future belongs to businesses that can connect the ecosystem rather than compete against it.

4. Product visibility is a shared responsibility

Discoverability is often framed as a marketing problem. The truth is that visibility starts much earlier.

It depends on how efficiently products move through the ecosystem, how well partners collaborate, and how quickly businesses can react to market signals. In short: how easily opportunities can be identified and activated.

The stronger the connections between publishers, distributors, retailers, and other partners, the better the chances of getting the right products in front of the right players.

Visibility isn’t created by a single stakeholder. It’s built collectively.

Looking ahead

Digital distribution has matured, and the systems supporting it now need to mature as well.

The opportunity isn’t to replace the ecosystem that’s already there. It’s to help it work better: with greater transparency and control, stronger cooperation, and infrastructure designed for the realities of today’s market.

If you’d like to explore these ideas in more detail, you can read Julian’s full conversation with GamesIndustry.biz here.