Appcharge, which raised $58 million in August for its direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform for mobile games, has hired David Stelzer as chief strategy officer.
Stelzer was previously president and chief business officer of the incumbent in game payments and DTC stores, Xsolla. He has over 20 years of experience in digital entertainment, esports, and gaming technology.
At Xsolla, Stelzer helped lead significant growth, forged strategic partnerships with major publishers, and expanded the company’s global footprint. His extensive background spans leadership roles at Epic Games, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Sega, where he was general counsel.
In his new role, Stelzer will set strategy, strike partnerships, and push Appcharge into new markets, as the company builds on its rapid momentum. The appointment follows Appcharge’s recent $58 million Series B round, bringing total funding to $89 million, and a year of record growth in which the company processed more than $500 million in transactions and grew fourteenfold year-over-year.
“I was taking some time to think about what I wanted to do next. Post Xsolla, there were a couple of opportunities that were at different stages, and they all tick different boxes for me. But this was really the most exciting opportunity for me,” Stelzer said in an interview with GamesBeat. “It’s where I felt I could be the most useful and make the most impact at my stage in my career right now. Dean, you’ve known me a long time. This is about the people that I’m going to be working with. It’s about where I can make an impact, and what I think is going to be good for the future of the industry.”
Stelzer added, “I really feel like Appcharge is well situated to be exactly those things for where I’m at in my career. I think that as the legislation and litigation pieces continue to unfold, as late as last week with Google, this part of the industry keeps opening up and presenting itself as a place with a lot of space for growth.”
“David’s track record in scaling global gaming businesses and forging industry-defining partnerships is second to none,” said Maor Sason, CEO of Appcharge, in a statement. “Adding David to our team underscores Appcharge’s growing strength and signals a major shift in the competitive landscape of global gaming payments. His experience and vision will help accelerate our growth and further strengthen our position as the go-to DTC platform in the industry.”
“I’ve been fortunate to work across many areas of the games industry, but I’ve never seen a company with as much exciting momentum as Appcharge,” said Stelzer. “The shift to direct-to-consumer is one of the most exciting and transformative trends in gaming today, and Appcharge is leading the way. I’m thrilled to join Maor, Roei, and the team to help scale this incredible business and support publishers in building stronger, more profitable relationships with their players.”
Industry analysts project that the global DTC gaming market will grow into the tens of billions over the coming years, as publishers seek to reduce reliance on app store platforms and strengthen direct player relationships. Appcharge contends it can boost publisher profits by 35% and strengthen player relationships and loyalty with its all-in-one platform.
With Stelzer onboard, Appcharge is positioning itself as the leading challenger to entrenched incumbents in this fast-growing space.
Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Appcharge is funded by IVP, Playrix, Gillot Capital Partners, and Play Ventures. Appcharge has more than 100 people.
Stelzer’s view of the game industry
Stelzer said many parts of the game industry are struggling to find the footing or what the new normal is.
“This is a real great place where that normal is still being figured out, and there’s a lot of open room to figure out and create what that path looks like,” he said.
While Appcharge is much newer than Xsolla is as a 20 year incumbent, that newness is one of those things that’s really intriguing for Stelzer.
“They’ve done a lot in the last three years. The investment that they raised recently is sizable, which gives them a great runway to be able to move forward and really achieve the kind of growth that they’re looking for,” he said. “But when you look at the caliber of the investors that are associated with the company, that’s a big testament to me as to what the leadership has done in the last three years, who that leadership pool is, what that company is building, and that’s the train that I want you to hop on at this point.”
I asked how people looking from the outside can tell which direct-to-consumer store companies are the best. Stelzer said it’s the job of these companies to make publishers and game makers better able to monetize their products.
“I think being able to do that well is something you’re not going to see from the outside. So if somebody like myself, who’s been doing this for the last few years, had a good chance to speak to a lot of the different companies that are doing this, I’m seeing the behind-the-scenes pieces of what I think has made other incumbent companies that are really big in technology or in games very successful,” Stelzer said. “I feel like Appcharge is very customer-centric. They’re very much looking at the needs of what the customers want. They’re looking to give the customer what they want, and the speed at which they’re able to do so shows the newness of their technology compared to the old technologies that are on the market.”
He said the management team has high quality and they’re in a position to pursue hyper growth.
I asked Stelzer why DTC offers a big chance for growth. He said other areas for potential growth are commoditized, like cloud gaming. But the relationship with the consumer is really key to getting game companies back to the position that they used to have before the platforms obfuscated their ability to reach the customer. That took away transparency and the ability to build businesses.
“They’ve almost pushed us into this place of DTC, which is fantastic because it’s now coming back full circle to exactly what game makers want. They want to be able to talk to their customer. They want to be able to understand how that customer plays, why they’re buying the things they’re buying, because those things lead to making better content, better games and more enjoyable experiences,” Stelzer said. “It creates better data sets in the long run for people to understand how to build better things in the future. So I think it’s just set up in this really wonderful time of games.”
He credited Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, for leading the legal battle with Google and Apple to win rights back for the game industry. Stelzer said he will make sure Appcharge stays focused on the right things and doesn’t lose its field of view for the business. He will also set up strategic partnerships to spur hyper growth.