Date : 26-Oct-2021
Location: Kuala Lumpur

Organization:

• Xsolla, the world's leading video game commerce company.

Key Takeaways:

• The Epic v Apple ruling recently was considered a positive development for the gaming industry, and Xsolla is uniquely positioned with best-in-class solutions helping developers profit.

Offerings:

Xsolla Web Shop solves many challenges developers face; such as discoverability, declining profit margins, lack of control over the user experience, access to localized payment methods, cross game marketing, more efficient user acquisition, effective collaboration with creators, and influencers, and much more.

It charges a lower platform fees compared with Apple app store.

This unique mix of select Xsolla tools and services allows users to add virtual currencies and virtual items to their accounts using their preferred local currency and payment method and offers multilingual display support.

Other cool features:

• Easy-to-start FastTrack Integration. Utilize API calls to import your item catalog to Xsolla so you can start selling right away.
• Manage fraud. Conduct business securely with a best-in-class anti-fraud system tailored for the games industry, which can effectively block 99% of fraudulent behaviors.
• Understand player behavior. Data ownership and insight into player preferences will allow you to conduct more effective marketing campaigns aimed at reaching new players and giving current players what they desire in your game.

Insights:

1.) Three industry-changing announcements make this opportunity more timely than ever:

I. The Epic v Apple ruling allows App Store Developers to direct users to other payment systems, effectively bypassing the 30% cut of in-app payments that Apple takes.

II. Apple announced a willingness to allow the use of alternative payments methods outside the App Store.

III. South Korea passed a law requiring Apple and Google to open their platforms to alternative payment systems.

2.) Combined with the fact that both Apple and Google explicitly state that cross-platform games can sell IAPs outside of mobile apps, it becomes clear that developers stand ready to unlock their full global revenue potential, increase profit margins and build stronger relationships with their players.

3) With a robust and powerful set of tools and services, Xsolla has helped video game developers and publishers market, sell, connect and optimize their games globally for over 16 years, carefully studying the changing tides of the games industry to position partners for continued success.

4) In 2020, digital and mobile wallets accounted for roughly 45% of global ecommerce payment transactions, making the digital wallet the most popular payment method worldwide. This number is estimated to increase to over 60% in 2025.
 

5.) Consumers are more likely to pay with mobile wallets in countries like Malaysia and India, and other geographies where credit cards are not the primary payment method. By plugging in the Xsolla Web Shop solution, developers instantly access more than 700 payment methods, including the most popular ones in Southeast Asia.

Spokepersons:

• Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla,said,Xsolla anticipated this seismic shift earlier this year,when Xsolla Web Shop was launched.
• Yoshio Osaki, President and CEO of IDG Consulting,said, the recent development and offering by Xsolla increased flexibility in monetization and business models for developers.
• Anton Zelenin, Head of Game Commerce at Xsolla,said,Xsolla Web Shop allows developers to scale their mobile games across multiple platforms.

Conclusion:

• Through Xsolla Web Shop, developers can expect up to 40% revenue growth and to reach new players in new geographies previously unavailable to them.
• In addition, the solution gives developers the tools to extend the life of their mobile and even PC games beyond app stores and other platforms.
• Aside from the ability to conduct and optimise the In-App Purchase (IAP) experience, the platform also offers other elements and tools which will help developers to grow their games, for example, In-Game Currency,In-Game Items and In-Game Purchases.

Editor's comments:

• The Xsolla Web Shop is a platform which allows mobile games developers whose products have been deployed to games marketplaces - such as Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Store etc - to have extended features, previously not available from the games marketplaces.
• These features include a new payment system with lower transaction fees, new tools for user engagement and retention, and other In-Game embedded objects.
• In other words, it gives existing games more wings and muscles - the Integration time: less than 120 minutes !