Imagine, a gamer stumbles across your title, hyped from a killer trailer, and clicks “Play Now.” Their excitement is at its peak. Heart racing, ready to dive in. But instead of gameplay, they’re stuck staring at a download bar creeping along like a Monday morning commute. In that moment, you’re not just losing their attention, you’re losing them entirely. Today’s gamers don’t wait; they move on. In a world where instant gratification is the standard, why should gaming be the exception. And here is why this matters:

Because MONETIZATION MATTERS

Whether the barrier is slow internet, a crowded hard drive, or simple impatience, the result is always the same: lost revenue and missed opportunities. Large publishers routinely report losing 20–30% of new users before those users have played a single minute of the game. This leakage isn’t just frustrating, it’s costly. Eliminating download dropouts increases conversion and revenue.

Because TIME MATTERS

Gamers are constantly deciding how to spend their time. Every second not playing is frustrating and a chance to drop off. And with game sizes ballooning to 150GB or more today, the gap between interest and gameplay is widening. According to user reports and industry analyses, 25–35% of gamers worldwide will abandon a game entirely if the download takes too long or their local storage is insufficient. Fast, frictionless access to gameplay gets players engaged.

Because DISCOVERABILITY MATTERS

With thousands of titles launching each year, competition for visibility is fierce. Steam offers more than 100,000 games to choose from. Publishers invest heavily in marketing, store page optimization, influencer outreach, and community building. But what happens when a player finally clicks “Install” and is faced with a multi-hour download? Especially for free-to-play games, all that effort to attract attention and spark interest can evaporate instantly. Players who drop off during downloads aren’t just lost for a single session; they often never return. With zero wait gamers jump from interest to play, so every click turns into immediate engagement.

Because RELATIONSHIP MATTERS

Real player relationships start at the very first click. Platforms like Netflix and Spotify won because their experience felt personal, effortless, and respectful of users’ time. Similarly, games and platforms that prioritize seamless experiences from first contact build immediate trust and lasting loyalty.

REMOVING FRICTION TO PLAY: XSOLLA PUBLISHING SUITE AND FASTSTART ROCKITPLAY

FastStart, integrated into the Xsolla Publishing Suite, directly addresses the frustrations that erode player interest and relationships. FastStart lets gamers jump straight from interest to play – no waiting, less storage anxiety. Players engage precisely at the peak of their interest, and publishers build meaningful direct-to-player relationships. Advantages of deploying the Xsolla Publishing Suite powered by FastStart include:

Xsolla + FastStart eliminates download dropouts, increases conversions and revenue, and helps build a direct-to-consumer relationship. If you’re attending Gamescom this August, let’s connect to discuss how FastStart & Xsolla can enhance your player relationships, improve discoverability, and grow revenue. For immediate insights, reach out to me here on LinkedIn.

Learn more today at Xsolla Publishing Suite with FastStart.

Remember the thrill of flipping through vinyl records at a local shop, hunting for that one album that spoke to your soul? Or the magic of popping a new game disc into your console, heart racing as the title screen loaded? Nostalgia is powerful, but let’s be real: no gamer ever waxed poetic about watching a download progress bar crawl to 100%. In a world where Netflix and Spotify deliver instant gratification, gamers are stuck waiting, sometimes hours, to hit “Play.” And that wait is costing you more than just their patience.

As games industry strategist Reinout te Brake put it (Read his full analysis here):

“First impressions no longer begin at ‘Start Game’; they begin at ‘Downloading 0%.’ Just like how ‘stream instantly’ redefined music and video, ‘play instantly’ may soon become the norm—not the novelty.”

The numbers tell a painful story. Since 2012, top game sizes have ballooned from 10 GB to over 250 GB. Even with a blazing 242 Mbps connection (tachus.com), a 100 GB download takes nearly an hour. Add server bottlenecks, launch-day surges, or massive day-one patches, and you’ve got frustrated gamers abandoning carts and skipping titles. A DMA survey of 2,000 gamers revealed:

That’s lost revenue, lost players, and a missed chance to connect with your audience when their excitement is at its peak.

But here’s the good news: you can change the game. Literally. With ROCKITPLAY FastStart, integrated into the Xsolla Publishing Suite, you can deliver what gamers crave: instant play. No preloading, no scheduling downloads, no staring at progress bars. Players click and dive right in, while the rest of the game downloads seamlessly in the background. It’s the full power of local play with the ease of streaming, and it’s available to publishers of all sizes.

Why does this matter? Because instant access isn’t just convenient, it’s a game-changer for user acquisition and monetization:

Your audience doesn’t just want games, they want experiences that respect their time and fuel their passion. With FastStart, you’re not just selling a game; you’re delivering joy, the moment they hit “Play.” 

If you’re attending Gamescom this August, let’s connect and discuss how FastStart & Xsolla transform game delivery by dramatically improving players’ quality of life, conversion rates and monetization. For immediate insights, reach out to me here on LinkedIn.

by Reinout te Brake

What if launching a 30GB game took just 3 seconds? FastStart might be gaming’s answer to Netflix-style instant play without the cloud costs.

Imagine downloading only 1% of a game and playing instantly—no preloads, no splash screens, no wait. For decades, gamers have accepted long download times as a necessary evil, often losing interest before gameplay even begins. Developers have paid the price too—watching players abandon sessions before their game’s first frame even loads.

Now, Xsolla and DACSLABS are flipping that script. Their new integration, FastStart, promises to transform game distribution by letting players dive into games within seconds—right from the Xsolla Launcher. It’s not cloud gaming, but it might just offer the best parts of it—minus the infrastructure bill.

The Problem With Waiting: Why Game Downloads Are Broken

In the attention economy, time is everything—and games are losing. Today’s average game file size can range from 30 to over 100GB. For players on limited bandwidth or unstable connections, that’s not just a delay—it’s a deal-breaker. Studies show that many users drop off before the download finishes, especially in free-to-play titles where impulse is everything.

This silent churn is rarely discussed but widely felt. Developers invest in trailers, store page optimization, and community hype—only to lose potential players to a loading bar. First impressions no longer begin at “Start Game”; they begin at “Downloading 0%.”

And it’s not just about user experience. Bloated downloads come with rising costs:

Meanwhile, the rest of the entertainment world has evolved. We stream movies in seconds. We sample songs instantly. Yet gaming—the most interactive medium of all—still asks us to wait.

This is the friction point FastStart is built to remove.

Inside FastStart: What It Actually Does and Why It Matters

At first glance, FastStart sounds like magic: play a game with just 1% of it downloaded. But under the hood, it’s a smart blend of incremental delivery, launcher optimization, and CDN orchestration—executed without touching a line of your game’s code.

Developed by DACSLABS and integrated directly into the Xsolla Launcher, FastStart works by identifying the minimal data needed to start gameplay—typically the first few minutes or tutorial level—and prioritizes that content for immediate access. While the player begins playing, the rest of the game continues to download quietly in the background.

It’s a familiar model if you’ve ever used Netflix or Spotify. Only here, it’s applied to multi-gigabyte interactive experiences.

What Makes FastStart Different

Unlike cloud gaming, which requires powerful servers and ongoing data streaming, FastStart runs the game locally. That means:

FastStart doesn’t stream the game—it just delivers the right parts first.

And for developers? It removes friction from the most critical moment in the user journey: first contact.

“FastStart is the only aftermarket tech that can turn any game into a click-to-play experience instantly, without touching the code,” said Frank Schwarz, CEO of DACSLABS.

What Developers Need to Know: Questions, Answers, and Real-World Implications

For developers, every new distribution technology raises the same questions: Will this break my build? Do I lose control? Will it actually save me time or money? With FastStart, many of those concerns are already being addressed.

Based on direct insights from DACSLABS and ongoing conversations with industry insiders, here’s what developers should know:

Does FastStart work with my engine?

Yes. FastStart is engine agnostic. Whether your game is built in Unity, Unreal, Godot, or a custom engine, the tech operates independently of your source code.

Does it complicate patching or live updates?

Not at all. The patch workflow remains unchanged. Developers can continue deploying updates as usual—FastStart simply prioritizes and stages downloads more intelligently.

What about piracy or asset unpacking when only part of the game is downloaded?

FastStart does not weaken existing protections. Whatever DRM or encryption measures are already in place remain intact, even during partial download sessions.

Can we use our own CDN?

Yes. DACSLABS confirms that the launcher can connect with any custom CDN—though by default, Xsolla works with providers like AWS, Akamai, and Gcore. If reducing infrastructure costs is a priority, developers can integrate their own CDN pipeline.

Is the Xsolla Launcher branded or white-label?

Both options are possible. DACSLABS supports white-label setups, meaning studios can fully skin and customize the launcher to match their brand—an especially important feature for publishers going direct-to-consumer.

Who pays for the infrastructure costs?

It depends on the setup. Costs can be absorbed by Xsolla or by the developer/publisher, depending on how the integration is structured. Regardless, FastStart reduces overall data volume through smaller patches and staged downloads—cutting down delivery and bandwidth costs.

How is FastStart priced?

DACSLABS supports multiple models: per download, monthly license, or revenue share. In Xsolla’s case, pricing is typically bundled into their broader direct-to-consumer offering.

In short, FastStart is designed not to disrupt your build pipeline—but to accelerate your go-to-market and improve first-time user experience without demanding technical rework.

Market Shifts: Why Instant Play Might Become the New Standard

FastStart isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s part of a broader shift in how players discover, try, and engage with games. Much like how Netflix disrupted cable by eliminating waiting times and putting control in the viewer’s hands, instant play technology is poised to do the same for gaming.

The Frictionless Future Players Expect

Today’s players, especially younger audiences, have been conditioned by platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok—where content is immediate. Long download times feel not just outdated, but unacceptably slow. In that context, asking someone to wait 45 minutes before trying a new game can be the difference between a potential fan and a lost opportunity.

This is especially critical for:

By removing the delay between discovery and gameplay, FastStart aligns perfectly with modern consumer behavior—and helps games cross that crucial first threshold: getting played.

The Numbers Back It Up

A Shift That Mirrors Other Industries

Just like how “stream instantly” redefined music and video, “play instantly” may soon become the norm, not the novelty. And unlike cloud gaming, which often struggles with performance and cost trade-offs, FastStart offers a local, reliable, and cost-efficient bridge to that future.

The End of Waiting?

FastStart represents more than just a technical breakthrough—it reflects a mindset shift in the games industry. One where immediacy matters, friction kills, and the first few seconds after a player clicks “install” could determine the fate of a game.

For developers, this is a chance to rewrite the first impression. For publishers, it’s an opportunity to boost conversions, reduce costs, and future-proof the player experience. And for gamers? It’s a welcome end to the wait.

As the tools around game delivery continue to evolve, one thing is clear: click-to-play is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s becoming a strategic edge.

Are you already optimizing your game’s first impression?
What would playable in seconds mean for your funnel?

Reinout te Brake, 14.04.2025 Playable in Seconds: How Xsolla and DACSLABS are quietly reinventing game distribution https://reinouttebrake.com/2025/04/14/playable-in-seconds-how-xsolla-and-dacslabs-are-quietly-reinventing-game-distribution/

We’re proud to announce our new partnership with Xsolla, a leading platform for direct-to-consumer game distribution and monetization. Together, we have integrated ROCKITPLAY FastStart technology into the Xsolla Publisher Suite to eliminate friction to play. With FastStart, Xsolla honors gamers’ time by cutting download wait times and patching timeouts from hours to seconds. The smart download manager keeps shuffling data in the background while playing. No more scheduling downloads, preloading games for release day or giant day one patches. For the first time jumping into games becomes as convenient as streaming media, but with the full performance of local play.

“We believe in equipping studios with the tools they need to succeed. FastStart offers a truly frictionless experience for gamers,” said Chris Hewish, Chief Strategy Officer at Xsolla. “By bringing instant, streaming-like access to games, we’re giving developers and publishers the best possible chance to attract and retain players.”

This collaboration removes the biggest hurdles players face on the road to becoming players and paying customers – long downloads and massive patch updates – by replacing them with a streaming-like experience that starts gameplay in seconds. With ROCKITPLAY FastStart, games can start with as little as 1% downloaded, bringing unprecedented convenience to gamers.

Competition for visibility often leaves game publishers with limited opportunities to tell their story or engage potential players effectively. By going direct to consumers, publishers can own customer relationships, reinforce social and online connections, and market future content to their audience. Beyond improving the player experience, the integration of ROCKITPLAY FastStart offers significant business advantages:

Feel free to reach out to learn how Xsolla + FastStart transforms game delivery and user engagement. Read the announcement from Xsolla online.

Xsolla Announcement: https://xsolla.com/blog/xsolla-and-dacslabs-join-forces-to-speed-up-game-delivery-with-launcher-and-rockitplay-faststart

We’ve all been there. You’re eager to dive into a new game, but first you wrestle with limited hard drive space, deciding which favorites to uninstall. Then comes the long wait for downloads and updates, watching progress bars creep forward while your excitement wanes. If you’re exploring new titles or using subscription services, massive game sizes turn what should be an adventure into a test of patience. ROCKITPLAY FastStart transforms game distribution by addressing these pain points – easing storage woes, eliminating long waits, and providing click-to-play access to trials and subscriptions.

Managing Hard Drive Space

With new AAA titles easily occupying 100GB or more, gamers need to constantly assess their game library and decide which games to uninstall before adding a new title. With FastStart, this pain is gone.  When the urge to revisit strikes, FastStart enables players to jump right back into the action almost instantly, without waiting for a massive re-download, because gameplay starts in seconds or minutes after the download starts.

Long Downloads and Patches

Nothing kills excitement faster than staring at a download bar creeping slowly toward completion. Gamers are eager to dive into new worlds, not wait hours for downloads and patches to finish. With FastStart technology, gameplay starts  with as little as 1% of the total game data downloaded. Additionally, FastPatch reduces the size of game updates, so you spend less time waiting and more time playing.

DACSLABS has developed ROCKITPLAY, a groundbreaking technology that transforms digital game distribution by offering a streaming-like, click-to-play experience for any PC game. This patented, Microsoft-certified solution eliminates long download times and enhances user engagement without requiring any game source code changes or developer support.

10 out of 10 people hate waiting! Users encounter friction to play every time they find a new game online, often waiting hours from the moment of discovery to the first seconds of gameplay. Waiting for long downloads and patches – the biggest contributors to wait time – kills the momentum of any successful engagement campaign. EVERY SECOND COUNTS!

Masahiro Sakurai, creator of the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. recently reminisced about coin op games, observing how friction to play has increased since the days of arcades.

“Rather than just tossing in a coin and getting into the game immediately, you must click an icon, wait for the logo, wait for the title, look at the instructions screen, wait until everything loads, and then you’re finally at the main screen, after which you can start playing,”

But, what if, just like in Ready Player One – we really could “go back – all the way back,” to a time when playing was immediate, easy, and pain free? That is why we created ROCKIT instantPLAY, to instantly inject users into gameplay, with technology that works from anywhere on the web, and with any game. Check out how it works in our new trailer:

Publishers may only get one chance to convert interest into players. Game advertising is harder than ever and efficiency has plummeted. Game publishers can now win the attention of gamers at the first opportunity, wherever they are most active, be it on social media, watching influencer streams, or reading emails. This targeted approach not only enhances discoverability but also ensures that marketing efforts are more effective and efficient.

ROCKIT instantPLAY addresses the critical challenges of discoverability and user acquisition. Game publishers and Indie developers now have a powerful tool to enhance their marketing strategies, lower average user acquisition costs, and build a direct to consumer relationship.

There is no second chance for a first impression. Especially for F2P and Try-Before-You-Buy business models, converting interest into players, and players into payers, is critical. Every click, every hoop a user may need to jump through and every minute that separates interest from gameplay counts. Conversion rates for F2P commonly shared range anywhere between 1% to 10%. We estimate that up to 40% of gamers are dropping out just during the download. From surveying 2,000 gamers, we learned that download times are an important factor when deciding to try news games. Here is what they say:

ROCKIT instantPLAY is designed to slash average user acquisition costs simply by delivering immediate gameplay, eliminating download dropouts. So you get more bang for the buck. And higher conversion rates translate into more revenues. In addition ROCKIT instantPLAY maximizes the value of direct-to-consumer marketing by eliminating friction to play – no game store in the middle, no data-wall between you and your players.

Competition for visibility often leaves game publishers with limited opportunities to tell their story or engage potential players effectively. What once was a market with a few thousand titles now boasts tens of thousands, all vying for the attention of gamers. Over time, the top titles have increasingly absorbed game store revenue. Each year, new game releases face stiff competition from the top 10 titles. In less than a decade the top 10 titles increased their share of total revenue from 37% to 61%.

Annual Game Releases on Steam Over Game Sales for Top 10 New Release

Data Source: Video Game Insights, 2024

Today, with over 99% of new games competing for less than 40% of new release revenue, getting users acquired and into the game is harder than ever – and the technology enabling discovery has failed to keep pace. At the same time the total number of game releases per year has tripled from 4k in 2016 to over 12k in 2023.

Zooming into 2023, out of $9B in total Steam revenue, $6B went to existing titles released in prior years, $1.85B went to the top 10 NEW releases in 2023, which left less than $1.2B to all other NEW releases that year. So effectively 99% of new releases – which was over 12,000 new games in 2023 on Steam – fought over just 13% of total Steam revenue.

Data Sources: Video Game Insights, 2024, Statista

Here is the good news: You can beat the odds with ROCKIT instantPLAY, a powerful marketing tool that provides a click-to-play experience to any game, eliminating friction-to-play like download dropouts while increasing user engagement, conversion and revenues. Users jump straight into gameplay and play while downloading.

Since ROCKIT instantPLAY relies on a simple online link, it can be embedded in any ad or social post, rocketing the users straight into the game from anywhere online. Gameplay starts with as little as 1% downloaded and while playing the rest of the download continues in the background. The patented aftermarket solution works with any PC game and does not require game code changes or developer support.

In a universe of content, you want players to discover your game!

Unfortunately, discoverability has become insanely difficult, especially for games from smaller publishers and Indie developers. The number of new games has exploded – Steam now boasts a dizzying 75,000 games, up from just 3,000 a decade ago – making it harder than ever to win visibility and capture users.

While game stores have introduced search tools like filters, tags, curated collections, the system seems to favor the top few titles. This means that smaller publishers cannot rely on organic game store traffic – they need to promote their game and create demand on their own.

After all, no one is in a better position to tell your game’s story than yourself. And for once social media is the perfect outlet to connect to your community directly. But how can publishers turn those interactions into new, paying players?

Today, DACS LABS GmbH is introducing ROCKIT instantPLAY, a powerful marketing tool that provides a click-to-play experience for any game, eliminating friction-to-play and increasing user engagement, conversion and revenues. Users jump straight into gameplay from links placed in ads, social feeds, or shares, and play while downloading. This also effectively eliminates dropouts due to long downloads. But the real winners are the gamers, who can play in seconds and decide for themselves if a game is as it sounds!

ROCKIT instantPLAY uses FastStart technology to offer immediate play for PC games, game trials or demos with a streamlined installer designed to minimize friction. In the past, an ad might point to more information, or a video, and link to a game store. Now, an ad or post is a magic portal straight into gameplay. With ROCKIT instantPLAY, it has never been easier to build your direct-to-consumer relationship, powered by almost frictionless conversion from marketing to gameplay.

Robot Cache is the first global game store to end players’ frustration over hour-long game downloads and patching timeouts, opening a new paradigm of game delivery. Similar to streaming video and music, ROCKITPLAY FastStart enables any PC game to start almost instantly, right after starting the download.

“I was skeptical at first. It sounded too good to be true, but the technology delivers. Today, FastStart games on Robot Cache start up to 200X times faster than on Steam or any other game store, providing an unmatched user experience” said Lee Jacobson, CEO at Robot Cache.

The FastStart Ready game collection already includes over 50 curated titles and the list grows each week. Most titles start in seconds, converting up to 99% of wait time into play time. Unlike Steam, or any other store that employs a conventional full download, only a small fraction of the game download is required to start gameplay.

Artikelinhalte
Robot Cache with FastStart vs. Steam Time-to-Start

ROCKITPLAY FastStart works by utilizing a breakthrough storage architecture that writes data sequentially, using machine learning to deliver the data needed first to start gameplay. And while gamers enjoy playing, the rest of the download continues in the background.

“German Engineering lives up to its reputation with ROCKITPLAY FastStart. We have worked side by side with the DACSLABS team and tailored the solution to our gamers’ needs.” Said Mark Caldwell, CTO at Robot Cache. “Bringing this technology into Robot Cache almost completely eliminates wait time for game downloads. With FastStart our players can finally stop thinking about scheduling downloads and just start playing!”

For best performance, Robot Cache uses Akamai’s low-latency content delivery network to serve its FastStart games.

“Akamai developed low latency content delivery to lay a foundation for innovation. Robot Cache with ROCKITPLAY FastStart is blazing the trail by slashing game start times powering a new era of click-to-play gaming.” said Thomas Stark, Sales Manager EMEA Media at Akamai Technologies.

Want to experience it for yourself? For a limited time, we are providing game keys for DESTROY ALL HUMANS to anyone who wants to try ROCKITPLAY FastStart on Robot Cache. To get yours, just email info@dacslabs.com