Table of contents
How we vet every listicle
Every agency featured on Web Tonic passes our 84-point editorial review before a single listicle goes live. This is how we vet each pick:
Verified client outcomes: We require real case studies with measurable KPIs — revenue, ROAS, CPA, retention — tied to the exact category being ranked. No cherry-picked wins, no unverifiable numbers.
Independent reputation: We cross-check Clutch, Google, G2, and Trustpilot ratings, and screen for review-bombing or suspicious patterns. Only operators with a consistent, verifiable track record make the cut.
Beyond that, every listing goes through a quarterly re-audit. We check 84 criteria across 6 pillars to make sure it still holds up — here are some of the checks we run:
A marketing automation agency for games sets up the messages that reach players and fans without anyone pressing send. It connects game events to a CRM or engagement platform such as Braze, then builds onboarding, win-back, event and purchase journeys across push, email, in-app messages and SMS.
We kept only agencies whose own sites show automation or CRM work plus a game, gaming platform or esports client. Services, addresses, clients and prices were checked by hand. One is in the United States, four in Europe, and three publish no street address.
What are the best marketing automation agencies for gaming and esports?
The eight external agencies below all sell marketing automation, CRM or lifecycle messaging on their own sites and show gaming or esports work. Seven name a client, one publishes a price, and none works only with games.
1. Web Tonic
About: Web Tonic builds marketing automation for game studios and esports brands through our data intelligence team, from onboarding and win-back journeys in push, email and in-app messages to the event tracking and CRM data that trigger them. Every journey is judged on retention, return sessions and revenue rather than on open rates, so the messages that bring players back keep running.
Key Services: Growth Marketing, Paid Social, PPC, Meta Ads, SEO, Google Ads, Snapchat Ads, Amazon Ads, Reddit Ads, TikTok Ads, TikTok Shop, GEO-AEO, Webflow Design, Shopify Design, WordPress Design, UGC, Social Media Management, Pay Per Click Management, Marketing Analytics, Analytics Implementation & CDPs, Performance Branding, Performance 360° Audit, Programmatic Ads, OOH Ads, HR Marketing
Industries Served: eCommerce, SaaS, B2B, Construction Professionals, Home Services, SMEs, Health Spa & Wellness, Retail, Legal & Judicial Services, Food & Beverages, Pets, Fitness, Family & Children, Finance & Insurance, Travel, Non-Profits & Organizations, Furniture & Decoration
Notable Clients: WorldRemit, Jack & Jones, Ardene, L’Oréal, Sendwave, Nestlé, Airbnb. Serve Fortune 500 companies and smaller fast-paced startups.
Locations: Local US office, with the main HQ in San Francisco and notable offices in New York, Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Montreal, Dubai, Singapore, Sydney and more. Offices on five continents.
Pricing: Starting at USD $3,000 per month. Flexible and scalable plans at any time according to your enterprise needs. Book a call to learn more.
Great For: Mid-market to enterprise-level businesses requiring ongoing, on-tap growth and performance marketing services.
Website: Web Tonic
2. Phiture
About: Phiture is a mobile growth consultancy on Kottbusser Damm in Berlin and a certified Braze agency partner, with teams in London, Barcelona and New York. It says it has ten years of experience setting up and tuning Braze for the app and games industry, and Wargaming appears among its clients.
Key Services: Retention and CRM, Braze implementation, In-app messaging, App store optimization, Performance marketing, Attribution setup
Industries Served: Mobile games, Mobile apps, Subscription apps, Media and music, Travel
Notable Clients: Wargaming, Spotify, Headspace, Skyscanner, Fishbrain
Locations: Berlin, Germany, London, United Kingdom, Barcelona, Spain, New York, New York
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: Mobile game studios running Braze, Publishers wanting CRM plus ASO, Teams that need in-app message builds
Website: Phiture
3. Massive Rocket
About: Massive Rocket is a Braze and Snowflake agency whose postal address is Paul Street in London. For Creative Assembly, the Total War studio, it built a single customer view and personalized email, push and in-app journeys, reporting more than 7 million messages and 150 campaigns.
Key Services: Customer engagement CRM, Customer data management, Braze implementation, Marketing technology, AI decisioning, Strategy planning
Industries Served: Media, gaming and entertainment, Food delivery, Retail and ecommerce, Banking and insurance, Convenience retail
Notable Clients: Creative Assembly, Papa John's, Domino's Pizza UK
Locations: London, United Kingdom
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: PC and console publishers with fragmented player data, Studios moving to Braze, Brands that need data and CRM in one team
Website: Massive Rocket
4. BRCG
About: BRCG is a growth agency that runs paid media, SEO, CRM and product work together and publishes no street address on its site. It moved Discord from a legacy CRM to Iterable and built a personalized Year in Review campaign for Twitch that it says lifted user retention by 18%.
Key Services: CRM and retention, Lifecycle messaging, CRM migrations, Paid media, SEO, Marketing operations
Industries Served: Gaming platforms, Consumer apps, Ecommerce, Creator tools, Fundraising
Notable Clients: Discord, Twitch, GoFundMe, Linktree, Atmosfy
Locations: No street address published
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: Gaming platforms with large user bases, Teams migrating to Iterable or Braze, Brands that want CRM and paid media together
Website: BRCG
5. WeDoCRM
About: WeDoCRM is an insourced CRM agency headquartered on Paul Street in London that runs CRM and martech operations for its clients. Its case studies include a CRM-driven Black Friday program for a leading esports brand, whose name it does not publish.
Key Services: Insourced CRM support, CRM and ESP migrations, CRM audits, Email marketing, Segmentation and personalization, CRM consultants
Industries Served: Esports retail, Retail, Financial services, Education, Pet care
Notable Clients: Pearson, MoneySuperMarket, GoHenry, WorldFirst, Lintbells YuMOVE
Locations: London, United Kingdom
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: Esports brands selling merchandise online, Teams that want CRM staff without hiring, Brands migrating email platforms
Website: WeDoCRM
6. Email Ethos
About: Email Ethos is an email and SMS retention agency for ecommerce brands that publishes no street address on its site. Its case studies include VSG Gaming, a gaming brand it says raised monthly revenue by 32% in under 40 days after an email rebuild.
Key Services: Email automation, Email campaigns, SMS marketing, Email deliverability, Email design and copy, Advanced segmentation
Industries Served: Gaming retail, Fashion, Skincare, Jewelry, Consumer electronics
Notable Clients: VSG Gaming, Wellbots, NueHoops, Porter Lyons, Glamrocks Jewelry
Locations: No street address published
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: Gaming stores with weak email revenue, Shopify brands fixing deliverability, Retailers adding SMS to email
Website: Email Ethos
7. Growthcurve
About: Growthcurve is a growth marketing agency registered on Paul Street in London, with a US phone line for American clients. It runs Braze lifecycle marketing beside paid user acquisition, and Marmalade Game Studio credits it with scaling its user acquisition globally.
Key Services: Braze lifecycle marketing, Mobile user acquisition, Paid social, Paid search, Creative production, UGC ads
Industries Served: Mobile games, Fintech, Ecommerce, Consumer apps, Sports
Notable Clients: Marmalade Game Studio, Coinbase, Unsolved Studios, Anna Money, Hubpay
Locations: London, United Kingdom
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: Game studios that want UA and lifecycle together, Apps launching on Braze, Startups scaling into new markets
Website: Growthcurve
8. ApsteQ
About: ApsteQ is a growth and automation agency founded by Arsh Singh that runs a mobile game marketing service and publishes no street address on its site. Its retention and lifecycle work turns downloads into returning players through email, push, SMS and in-product messages.
Key Services: Retention and lifecycle, Email and SMS, Workflow automation, App store optimization, Paid user acquisition, Conversion rate optimization
Industries Served: Mobile games, Consumer apps, SaaS, Ecommerce, Dental practices
Notable Clients: EarningsCall, LunarLinc, Inner Journey
Locations: No street address published
Pricing: Quote-based
Great For: Small mobile studios after launch, Apps that need workflow automation, Founders wanting UA and retention together
Website: ApsteQ
9. MV3 Marketing
About: MV3 Marketing is a B2B growth agency headquartered in the Raleigh area of North Carolina with a remote team. Its esports practice runs demand generation for esports platforms and tournament operators, including n8n automations, CRM sync, lead scoring and weekly reporting.
Key Services: AI and CRM automation, Demand generation, Paid media, SEO, Analytics, Web development
Industries Served: Esports platforms, B2B, Ecommerce, SaaS, Professional services
Notable Clients: Not named on the pages we checked
Locations: Raleigh, North Carolina
Pricing: Audits from USD $997
Great For: Tournament operators chasing sponsors, Esports platforms with B2B sales teams, Teams wanting n8n and CRM automation
Website: MV3 Marketing
Quick Comparison Table
| Agency | Key Specialty | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Web Tonic | Full-Service Performance Marketing | USD $3,000/mo | Mid-market to Enterprise (local US office) |
| 2. Phiture | Braze retention and CRM programs for mobile games | Quote-based | Mobile game studios running Braze |
| 3. Massive Rocket | Data-driven player journeys on Braze | Quote-based | PC and console publishers with fragmented player data |
| 4. BRCG | Lifecycle programs for gaming platforms and communities | Quote-based | Gaming platforms with large user bases |
| 5. WeDoCRM | Insourced CRM teams for esports retail | Quote-based | Esports brands selling merchandise online |
| 6. Email Ethos | Email flows for gaming retail brands | Quote-based | Gaming stores with weak email revenue |
| 7. Growthcurve | Braze lifecycle plus user acquisition for games | Quote-based | Game studios that want UA and lifecycle together |
| 8. ApsteQ | Push, email and SMS lifecycle for small studios | Quote-based | Small mobile studios after launch |
| 9. MV3 Marketing | CRM automation for esports platforms selling to sponsors | Audits from USD $997 | Tournament operators chasing sponsors |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose a marketing automation agency for a game?
Start with your platform and your goal. Studios already on Braze can look at Phiture, Massive Rocket or Growthcurve, which all run Braze work. Gaming platforms and communities may suit BRCG, which moved Discord to Iterable. Merch and gaming retail brands fit email specialists such as Email Ethos or WeDoCRM. Ask each agency for a journey it built for players, the event data it needed, and the retention change it measured.
How much does marketing automation cost for gaming companies?
Only one of the eight external agencies publishes a figure: MV3 Marketing starts with an audit at USD $997. The other seven quote against scope. Budget for three separate lines: the platform licence, such as Braze, Iterable or Klaviyo; the setup work to connect game events and build journeys; and ongoing management, testing and reporting. Ask whether the agency or your team owns the journeys and templates when the contract ends.
What is the difference between CRM, lifecycle marketing and marketing automation?
The CRM or engagement platform holds player and customer data. Lifecycle marketing is the plan: which messages each player gets at onboarding, after a lapse or before an event. Marketing automation is the build that sends those messages when a player does something, through push, email, in-app or SMS. Most agencies on this page sell all three, but Massive Rocket and WeDoCRM lean toward data and CRM operations.
How long does it take to see results from marketing automation?
Connecting game events and building the first onboarding and win-back journeys usually takes four to eight weeks, longer if player data sits in several systems, as it did for Creative Assembly before Massive Rocket built a single customer view. Early retention changes can show within a month of launch. Judge the program over a full quarter on day-7 and day-30 retention, return sessions and revenue per player.
Should I hire a gaming specialist or a general CRM agency?
None of the eight agencies here works only with games, so you are choosing between CRM depth and gaming experience. Ask for a game, platform or esports case, such as Phiture with Wargaming, BRCG with Twitch or Growthcurve with Marmalade Game Studio. Location matters less than platform skills, data access and working hours that overlap with your live-ops team during events and launches.
Choosing a Marketing Automation Agency for Gaming and Esports
Start with the journey that loses the most players. Onboarding, the first lapse and event reminders each need different triggers, so name the drop-off, the platform and the player data you hold before briefing any agency.
Check gaming proof on each agency's own site. All eight external agencies sell automation or CRM work and show a game, platform or esports client, and seven name a client. Ask to see one live journey and its numbers.
Fix player data before building journeys. Game events, purchases and consent have to reach the CRM cleanly, or automation sends the wrong message. Our data intelligence team starts there, and our gaming Meta ads agencies list covers acquisition.
Judge the program on retention. Track day-7 and day-30 retention, return sessions and revenue per player over a full quarter, not open or click rates. Compare our gaming social media agencies, or read our latest articles.
