Building MeetToMatch and Game Industry Networking – A Conversation With Fedor van Herpen:
Some of the most useful businesses in the games industry did not start with a grand vision. They started with someone trying to solve an immediate, practical problem. That is more or less the origin story of MeetToMatch, the matchmaking platform that has become a fixture of major games industry conferences around the world.
Fedor van Herpen, one of MeetToMatch‘s co-founders, joined Jay Powell on the IndieGameBusiness podcast for a candid conversation about how the platform came to be, what the acquisition by ONESP means for the company’s future, how conferences have shifted since COVID, and what developers need to understand about networking and pitching in the current market.
How MeetToMatch Started From an Intern and a Spreadsheet:
Fedor did not plan to be in the games industry. His original goal was a corporate internship at Shell, the oil company. When that fell through, he scrambled to find something else and landed at a Dutch conference called the Festival of Games in Utrecht. He went in with no expectations and found that he genuinely liked the work.
The problem he encountered there was a familiar one for anyone who has tried to coordinate meetings at a large event. The first year the conference attempted to facilitate networking between attendees, they did it in an Excel spreadsheet. It did not go well. Fedor and his eventual co-founder Ansgar, who was his manager at the time, built a matchmaking platform to replace the spreadsheet and solve the problem properly.
That solution became MeetToMatch. Years later, Ansgar and Fedor are still running it together, with Ansgar occasionally reminding Fedor that he used to be the intern. The platform has since become one of the standard tools used at major games conferences to connect developers, publishers, investors, and service providers.
The ONESP Acquisition and What It Actually Changed:
Earlier this year, MeetToMatch was acquired by ONESP, which stands for One Shared Passion. ONESP is a group of companies focused on games and consumer technology, with operations spanning PR and marketing, VR development, retail marketing, and influencer management. The acquisition took MeetToMatch from a team of ten to being part of a five hundred person organization.
Fedor was candid about what that transition has and has not changed. The day to day operation of MeetToMatch remains largely the same. ONESP has been hands off, telling Fedor and his team to keep running the business and focus on growth. What has genuinely shifted is the access to people and ideas. Directors from other companies within the group reach out regularly now with collaboration proposals or requests for help. And perhaps more importantly, Fedor and Ansgar are no longer two founders on an island when they need to think through a difficult decision. They now have a network of other company leaders within ONESP they can speak to in confidence.
That shift from isolated ownership to being part of a broader organization, while still retaining operational control, is a meaningful change for anyone who has run a small company. The business decisions are still theirs, but the support structure around those decisions is significantly deeper.
How Game Industry Conferences Changed After COVID:
Jay asked Fedor to reflect on how the conference and event market has evolved from pre-pandemic to now, and the answer was more nuanced than a simple return to normal.
On attendee behavior, Fedor said things look largely the same as pre-pandemic. People want to meet in person. Virtual conferences, which had a genuine moment during the COVID years, have largely lost their appeal now that in-person events are accessible again. The appetite for online-only professional events has dropped significantly.
What has changed is the type of event people prefer. Fedor observed that attendees are gravitating toward smaller, more intimate conferences over the massive shows. The big events still have value, particularly for building broad visibility and meeting a wide range of contacts in a short period. But the preference for focused, relationship-driven gatherings has grown noticeably.
He also noted that the business model around conferences has shifted. Sponsors are more cautious and more selective. They are not writing checks for conferences just to have their name attached. They want to see clear evidence of return on investment. This has created real pressure on conference organizers, who have to demonstrate value to sponsors in concrete terms rather than relying on the general goodwill and promotional instincts that used to drive sponsorship decisions.
The Real Value of In-Person Networking for Indie Developers:
One of the most instructive parts of the conversation was the dynamic between Jay and Fedor themselves. Jay told Fedor on the podcast that MeetToMatch had effectively ended one of his early business lines. He and his team used to be hired by government agencies and other organizations to coordinate their meetings at GDC and Gamescom. When MeetToMatch became widely used, the need for that service evaporated.
Rather than any tension in that story, it illustrated something important about how the games industry actually operates at the conference level. Jay’s reaction at the time was not frustration but pragmatism: why would anyone pay for something that a better tool now does automatically? That kind of honest market assessment is what professional networking in this industry tends to look like.
The conversation also touched on what makes games industry networking distinct. Fedor and Jay described a culture where developers, publishers, and service providers are genuinely rooting for the broader industry to succeed. A developer without a publishing deal is more likely to be pointed toward a publisher that is a good fit than to be left without help. There is competitive tension at the business level, but at the conference floor level, the prevailing attitude is collaborative.
That culture is part of what makes the games conference circuit worth investing in for indie developers. It is not a scene where you are competing against everyone in the room. It is one where most people in the room have some interest in seeing good games find their audience.
When Should Developers Start Submitting Games to Festivals and Events?:
A question came in during the live session from the IndieGameBusiness Discord asking about the right moment to submit a game to festivals and what level of polish those events actually expect. Both Fedor and Jay addressed it directly.
Fedor’s position was that developers need at minimum a playable demo or vertical slice, something that lets people experience the core game loop with actual design in place. Not placeholder art, not a prototype held together with concept sketches, but something that communicates what the game actually is and feels like to play.
Jay added an important distinction between two different audiences: publishers and investors on one hand, and the public on the other. A build that crashes or has visible bugs can be acceptable when you are showing it to a publisher or investor who understands the development process and can look past surface issues to evaluate the core concept. The same build shown to players at a public event is a different situation entirely. Your audience at a public showcase does not have the context to look past instability. They need something that is fun and stable enough to represent the game honestly.
His overall recommendation was to submit often, across the many events and festivals available throughout the year on and off Steam. The opportunity to get your game in front of people is too valuable to wait for perfection. But whatever you submit publicly needs to have a genuinely fun core loop and be stable enough that it does not damage the impression a player forms in those first few minutes with the game.
What Happens When Developers Acquire Existing IP:
The second Discord question touched on acquiring intellectual property from an original creator, which is a situation that comes up more often than many developers expect, particularly with retro or dormant game properties.
Fedor’s core point was that when you take on existing IP, the audience attached to that IP comes with it and brings expectations. The new game needs to respect what players loved about the original property. If your reimagined version strips out the elements that defined the original and only keeps the name and visual brand, you have the IP but you do not have the goodwill that was supposed to come with it.
Jay reinforced this from the publishing perspective. There are many examples of classic games being relaunched or reimagined that bear little resemblance to what made the original work. Players who show up for a beloved IP and find that the new version has discarded everything they cared about do not become fans of the new game. They become critics of it. If you are going to acquire and build on existing IP, faithfulness to the core experience of the original is not optional.
The Broader Case for Conferences as a Business Tool:
One thread running through the entire conversation was that conferences, done right, are not just networking opportunities. They are a place where real business relationships form over time, where candid conversations happen that would not happen over email, and where the informal moments often produce more value than the scheduled meetings.
Fedor and Jay’s own friendship is a product of years of showing up at the same events. They have competed for the same contracts without animosity, supported each other through difficult periods in their businesses, and built the kind of trust that only comes from repeated in-person contact over a long time.
For indie developers trying to find publishers, investors, co-developers, or simply mentors who have navigated similar challenges, that model of sustained conference presence is worth taking seriously. A single GDC or Gamescom trip is rarely transformative. But a developer who shows up consistently, has something worth showing, and treats every conversation as a long-term relationship investment will build a network that pays off in ways that are hard to manufacture any other way.
Where to Find MeetToMatch:
MeetToMatch is available through the conferences and events that use the platform for attendee matchmaking. Developers looking to get the most out of their conference presence can use MeetToMatch to pre-schedule meetings and identify the right contacts before they arrive, rather than spending the first day of an event figuring out who they need to talk to.
Want more insights like this?:
Join us for our IndieGameBusiness Deep Dive, taking place on May 27th from 9am – 5pm Eastern or hop into the IndieGameBusiness® Discord to connect with Fedor and other industry pros.
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