If you're evaluating XDS Spark to find and work with external development partners, the main alternative is Game Caviar. Both serve external development in games, and both are credible — they're built for different jobs. XDS Spark is a partner network built around the annual XDS conference. Game Caviar is a curated, enterprise-grade intelligence platform and single source of record for external development, with a permanently free tier and the security, integrations, and analytics to optimize cost and time. This page lays out the differences factually so you can decide which fits how your team works.
Game Caviar vs XDS Spark - at a glance
Game Caviar
XDS Spark
Curation Model
Curated games-industry partnerships and intelligence platform
Monthly fee-driven conference platform
Business Model
Enterprise software and tooling, no advertising or pay-to-play
Membership, sponsorship and advertising
System of Record
Single source of record for external development partners, connected to existing tools
Conference-linked directory
Access
Permanently free fully-functional tier, plus enterprise tiers.
Membership, license
Partnership Ties
Affiliated with five international conferences, including MIGS, and strategic partnerships with other industry groups and software companies
Directly integrated with the XDS Summit
Industry Insights
Configurable real-time BI and analytics dashboards
Annual XDS Insights Report
What Game Caviar is
Game Caviar is a software company and an operating framework for external development. Its partner list is curated on experience and quality rather than volume — companies cannot buy their way on, and the platform carries no advertising or pay-to-play placements. That's a deliberate choice: it keeps operational value high and noise low. A permanently free, fully functional tier is available to everyone; revenue comes from enterprise tooling — custom dashboards, integrations, and business intelligence — built for developers, publishers, and service providers.
For larger organizations, Game Caviar is built to enterprise standards: SSO, single-tenant data, enterprise-grade encryption, SLA-backed support, and bespoke pipelines and dashboards tailored to how a given company works. Above all, it acts as a single source of record for your external development partners — capabilities, status, rates, and history in one place — and connects that record to the systems your teams already run on, including Salesforce, Jira, Perforce, Workday, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Okta, ServiceNow, NetSuite, and Ironclad. Partner data stays in sync across your workflow rather than fragmenting across inboxes, spreadsheets, and disconnected tools.
What XDS Spark is
XDS Spark is a partner network built around the annual XDS conference — one of the strongest in-person gatherings in external development. It's funded through membership, sponsorship, and advertising, and participation is by application. The value is event-led: the connections made at the summit and the XDS Insights Report that comes out of it. If your sourcing runs on that annual event and its network, Spark is built around it.
Which fits your team
Both models can support relationship-led partnerships — the difference is where they center. XDS Spark centers on the annual XDS Summit and its network. Game Caviar is present across multiple international conferences without being tied to any one, and pairs those relationships with a year-round operating platform: a single source of record for your partners, enterprise security, integrations into your existing systems, and the analytics to manage partners and spend across studios. If you want an event-anchored network, Spark offers that. If you want the day-to-day infrastructure that also carries the relationships, Game Caviar is built for it.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is Game Caviar an alternative to XDS Spark?
Yes. Both serve external development in games, built for different jobs: Game Caviar is a curated, enterprise intelligence platform and single source of record you work in year-round; XDS Spark is a partner network built around the annual XDS conference.
Q: Does Game Caviar act as a single source of record for external development partners?
Yes. Game Caviar keeps your partners' capabilities, status, rates, and history in one place and connects that record to the tools your team already uses — including Salesforce, Jira, Perforce, Workday, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Okta, ServiceNow, NetSuite, and Ironclad — so it stays in sync across your workflow.
Q: Does Game Caviar support enterprise security and integrations?
Yes. Game Caviar offers SSO, single-tenant data, enterprise-grade encryption, and SLA-backed support, and integrates with systems including Salesforce, Jira, Perforce, Workday, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Okta, ServiceNow, NetSuite, and Ironclad.
Q: Can companies pay to be listed on Game Caviar?
No. Partners are selected on experience and quality, and the platform carries no advertising or pay-to-play placements. A permanently free, fully functional tier is available to all users.
Q: Is Game Caviar tied to a single conference?
No. Game Caviar is affiliated with multiple international conferences, including MIGS, but isn't tied to any one event, and doesn't share platform data with conference marketing.