Rokky works closely with publishers and distributors to ensure that games are sold in different markets at a set price to ensure that revenue is protected for publishers and to block resellers who buy keys from one market to sell in another.
The team also tracks sales of keys so they can accurately report where keys have been sold and how much for the publishers. This allows transparency between publishers and distributors.
In this interview, Vadim Andreev tells us all about how Rokky operates and gives crucial information about game distribution.
Tell us about yourself, and what you do, and what Rokky does?
My name is Vadim Andreev and I’m the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Rokky. Rokky is a global distribution platform that delivers publisher-approved game keys to international markets.
We help publishers increase their revenue and take control of their distribution by connecting publishers with alternative e-stores. We unlock incremental revenue opportunities for publishers as they sell their game keys to players outside of Steam. This enables publishers to keep control of their pricing across global markets and e-stores.
We’ve built a foundation of trust with over 200 alternative stores and 100 publishers like Nacon, Offword and THQ Nordic.
How did Rokky identify the need for a platform that connects publishers to global stores?
Back in 2010, my team and I built digital stores for telecoms and internet service providers (ISPs). As we were doing this, we ran into a big problem — piracy was everywhere and it was tough to get users to buy games legally.
To combat the piracy, we teamed up with established telecom operators who were interested in gaming, to create convenient, legal ways for gamers to download games. That’s when our revenue started to grow.
We turned our attention to gaming publishers once we realized that they also needed more channels beyond Steam to sell their games, and they needed visibility into where and how their games were selling.
When we turned our attention to the alternative distribution ecosystem, we saw that publishers were missing out on a huge chunk of revenue via marketplaces. Lots of users were buying and selling games without publisher approval, creating a reselling market that was like the Wild West. Publishers could not control the market because they didn’t have the resources or staff to monitor their keys.
That’s when we founded Rokky. We built a platform not just to sell games but to be a comprehensive solution to control distribution – track where sales happen, show how games perform, and provide recommendations on pricing and marketing strategies.
Our goal: to make game distribution easier, more transparent, and better for both publishers and gamers.
Image Credit: Rokky
How has Rokky helped publishers to distribute game keys?
Rokky increases the market visibility of publishers’ titles, reduces their dependency on restrictive dominant platforms, and helps them maximize their revenue margins by placing and marketing games in alternative markets.
Publishers have access to our digital distribution platform which allows them to have secure and seamless transactions with partner distributors, while also providing real-time visibility into in-depth key sales data.
This eliminates inefficiencies associated with traditional key management, creating a scalable, and globally connected gaming ecosystem for game makers
Image Credit: Rokky
What sets Rokky apart from its competitors?
At Rokky, we like to think of ourselves as trusted partners and consultants, not just distributors. We offer a comprehensive and personalized approach to distribution. It’s more than just taking keys from the publisher and placing them on alternative stores.
We offer a holistic view of their game’s current progress and work closely with them to map out a global strategy.
The first thing we do is give them an overview of how their keys are currently selling, and show them the need for effective key management. We sit down with the publisher and discuss the price of their games, the regions they want to expand to, their marketing strategy, the share rates and overall go-to-market plan, all before they sign a contract with us.
We don’t just place games on the market and leave it at that, we create demand for games through our regional marketing channels.
What core factors have driven Rokky’s reach across the globe?
Our global team, connections to international e-stores, and our transparency with game publishers have driven our reach across the globe. We have ensured that our platform has everything they would need to monitor their game’s success, but someone is available to help 24 hours a day when they need extra support.
What are the benefits for publishers to partner with Rokky?
Publishers are provided with the most up-to-date and in-depth sales data for their games, incremental revenue from sales on alternative storefronts and the support of a global team of games industry experts.
The Rokky team values the time and effort it takes to make a game and get it to market. We ensure publishers have access to all their potential revenue and their fans have access to the game they’ve been waiting to play for months, or maybe years.
Getting their games onto alternative storefronts does not affect their sales on platforms like Steam but it helps ensure that when gamers look elsewhere for the IP, they have direct access to it.
What are the benefits for digital stores to work with Rokky?
Digital stores gain publisher-approved keys directly from the source. On alt markets, there is sometimes a risk of gray market activities or duplicate keys to be sold.
Using Rokky for direct access to the publisher’s keys helps them to ensure all of the gamers on their platforms have access to legitimate keys directly from the publisher. It also minimizes the chance of fraud from unregulated sellers occurring on their platforms, in turn boosting their reputation too.
What is the gray market?
The gray market is when game resellers go to secondary markets to sell their game keys. It becomes an issue when sellers buy keys in bulk at a discount from one market and sell them for a profit in another.
Gamers may be happy to buy these keys as they tend to undercut the price of official keys, but these come at a risk. Some keys may already be activated, leading to fraud, sometimes unintentional, by the hand of the reseller. These sellers are not affiliated with the game publisher or the marketplace they sell on, but they prey on gamers who are looking for the best or lowest price for a game.
What are some common misconceptions about game key distribution?
Two main misconceptions come to mind, one being that Steam is the only platform to get games for PC gamers and the other is that alternative stores are hubs of unregulated activity.
Steam has the best marketing, it has grown a reputation for being the main platform to get games, especially with new gamers. However, it is not the only platform and for some people, it is not the most convenient platform. For example, Steam has limited payment options, so for some gamers, it is easier to purchase from alternative stores.
However, these alternatives sometimes suffer from misconceptions around gray market activity. It is important to clarify that Rokky does not operate in the gray market. Our Steam keys are sourced directly from the publisher and sold to the correct geos across various game stores. This is good news for players who can still enjoy deals from their games, while developers receive direct revenue from each sale.
What does the future hold for Rokky?
We are hoping to offer partners more support options in the coming months. In fact, we will be launching a key management system for publishers later this year, which will help them see and track all their keys. In the meantime, we aim to work with more AA and AAA publishers and continue building our portfolio for our distribution partners.
