After 18 months of building our database and cataloging every single gaming service provider in the industry, here’s what we’ve learned…in chart form!

I don’t really think of it as a chart though, more of a timeline of how the external development ecosystem has evolved. We’ve gone from a handful of service providers in the late ‘90s, whereas now we’re bumping up against 2,000. That’s insane growth!

‍A few other things we noticed:

• The oldest company in our database was founded in 1958–LAI Games.
• The newest company was founded in 2025–Ripostes. I see you Romain Durand!
• 2024 data is probably not done in terms of growth, so don’t worry about that down angle; most of those companies just haven’t surfaced yet.

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See that spike in 2012? A convergence of industry trends sparked it: mobile gaming’s boom (Google Play, 2012), the indie game revolution (Steam Greenlight & Kickstarter, both 2012), and the rise of outsourcing in general (XDS founded 2013). At the same time, game engines became more accessible, with Unity going free in 2010 and Unreal following in 2015, lowering barriers for small teams and service providers to enter the industry.

Our data comes from conference attendee lists, government trade offices, person-to-person referrals, social media, ExDev vendor lists, and more. It focuses on companies with explicit Video Game Service offerings (so, if their site looks like Atlassian's, they’re probably not in our database), and it only features currently active teams.

This just goes to show that if you’re a game developer looking to work with external talent, you're navigating an ocean of studios with their own specialties, working styles, and track records. It’s a lot more complicated than it used to be, which is exactly why we spent the last 18 months mapping the ecosystem and traveling the world to meet with studios, helping developers make more informed decisions and connect with qualified partners who truly align with their needs.