Two industry veterans have launched a matchmaking platform called Sail.game to connect developers seeking funding to publishers looking for new titles.
Founded by CEO Vladimír Geršl (founder of Czech advisory firm Cyber Sail Consulting) and managing director Guillaume Jamet (founder of French indie publisher Dear Villagers), the platform has been in development since early 2025 and has been in early access for several months. During that time, it recorded over 13,000 interactions and onboarded more than 200 qualified publishers.
Jamet says the goal is to make pitching quick and efficient while addressing discovery fatigue.
“Most studios just ‘shotgun’ their pitch to everyone, hoping for a miracle. The result? Legitimate, high-quality projects are drowned in a sea of irrelevant noise.”
The platform aims to fix this by “ensuring publishers only see games that align with their specific mandate, genre, budget, or timeline.”
“We want publishers to log into Sail.game and know immediately that every game on their dashboard actually fits their portfolio,” says Jamet. “No clutter, no ‘maybe,’ just matches. For developers, it’s the same: we guarantee your game lands in front of people who actually care about your genre. If it’s a match, you meet.”
He describes the selection of publishers a “result of ten years of relational capital built by Cyber Sail Consulting.”
“These are people we meet at events and speak with year-round,” he says, saying that the platform “grants developers access to a decade of verified, high-level connections.”
“We want publishers to log into Sail.game and know immediately that every game on their dashboard actually fits their portfolio”
“As we onboard new partners, our process remains strictly human: we meet, we talk, and we verify. We need to ensure they provide accurate data regarding their funding capacity and current requirements. If we aren’t protecting the integrity of the data, the matchmaking fails. We aren’t building a directory; we are building a circle of trust.”
Developers can see in real time who views, shortlists, and downloads their demos. They can also adapt pitch decks into business-oriented profiles called ‘Game Cards’ that provide scouts with “the data points needed to make informed decisions.”
The service stands comparison with online marketplace Pitchify, which launched last month with the same goal of matching devs and publishers. Jamet characterises Pitchify as a directory, while Sail.game is “moving in a completely different direction by using data to actively push matches instead of just relying on classic searches.”
“We aren’t just a simple algorithm, we’ve embedded our real-world expertise into a sophisticated matchmaking system” he says. “Sail.game leverages large datasets from stores, but more importantly, it uses proprietary information and ‘insider’ knowledge that publishers have trusted us with. This creates a level of accuracy a simple directory can’t reach.”
“We’ve been on both sides of that table; we know exactly where the friction lies and how much work remains to be done.”
He continues: “Discovery is just the first brick. We are building the next layers of a complete ecosystem to support the entire lifecycle of the relationship. We’re currently rolling out on-deck analytics to help publishers move past the ‘initial crush’ with an in-depth roadmap, budget, and market analysis.
“Ultimately, our goal is to help both sides achieve the best journey together. We are developing a suite of tools, from project management and milestone tracking to asset management, all specifically designed to bridge the gap between developer and publisher mindsets. We’ve been on both sides of that table; we know exactly where the friction lies and how much work remains to be done. In the long term, we want to provide the tools to manage and smooth that relationship at every single stage, not just the first date.”
Sail.game is open for registrations, with developers able to join for a nominal entry fee starting at €99. The platform’s Discovery Service remains free for qualified publishers.Jamet describes the price point as a “necessary gate” to maintain the “integrity of its ecosystem.”
“Teams routinely spend a lot more on events, travel, or participating in online showcases with highly uncertain outcomes,” he says. “We believe we offer a much higher chance of getting noticed for a much lower cost, both in cash and in man-hours,” he says.
“Asking for a fee is a filter. It’s exactly the same logic as the $100 Steam Direct fee”
“Asking for a fee is a filter. It’s exactly the same logic as the $100 Steam Direct fee: it’s a pain for legit indies, but it’s the way to ensure publishers know that if a game is on Sail.game, the studio is professional, they are serious, and they have skin in the game. By making the platform free for publishers, Jaret notes that it “ensures our paying developers have access to a high-density pool of active, verified partners.
“We aren’t just providing a list; we are curating an audience of decision-makers.”
