Xsolla, A Leading Global Virtual Currency Reseller, Enjoyed Success At The 2011 E3 Expo

June 21, 2011 - PRLog -- The 2011 E3 Expo held recently at the L.A. Convention Center provided Xsolla (formerly 2Pay), an exhibitor at the 2011 E3 Expo, the opportunity to connect with game developers and publishers, many of whom are looking for monetization solutions in growing regions such as Latin America, MENA countries (Middle East-North Africa), and Russia, where Xsolla offers more payment options than its competitors- 36 payment options in Latin America, 29 in MENA Countries, and 107 payment options in Russia and Eastern Europe. This was only Xsolla's second year at the E3 Expo, but due to the incredible growth the company has experienced in the last year, there were a lot of game developers and publishers inquiring about Xsolla's services.

Xsolla's Vice President and Co-Founder, Albert Donahue believes that the reason for this is simple: “As America is already very saturated in social games, gaming publishers are looking for opportunities in countries that are growing in social and online gaming.  Latin America is one of those regions; it is one of the fastest growing regions in the world for online gaming because of its rapid growth in digital entertainment and media- Broadband households are expected to double in the next 5 years, and the number of mobile Internet access subscribers will grow by more than 400% over the next 5 years in Latin America- this presents a huge opportunity for  online and mobile games, and Virtual Currency.  Gaming publishers are coming to Xsolla because we not only offer more payment options in Latin America than any other VC reseller, (which allows publishers to sell their Virtual Currency in those countries) but we also offer favorable terms, such as no installation fees, no currency exchange fees, and no chargeback fees, which is rare in this industry.” According to a recent market study by SuperData Research, Latin America's Virtual Goods market is expected to grow to $517 million in revenues by the year 2012.  

MENA countries (which includes middle eastern countries, Turkey and North Africa) have been experiencing growth in online games due to the increase in broadband availability and the growing number of Internet users. MENA countries have over 56 million Facebook users, with over 19 million users joining in the past year alone.  This represents a one-year growth rate of 51%.  The majority of Facebook users in MENA countries are male, which represents the demographic of the typical gamer.  Because Facebook is leading the social games platform, this represents a huge opportunity in MENA countries, where Xsolla offers more payment options than any other online gaming payment service provider.

Online and social games also continue to grow in Russia and Eastern Europe, mainly due to the increasing rate of social network users, which is estimated to be 60 million users; because games are the most popular application on social networks in Russia, this presents a huge opportunity for gaming developers and publishers.  In Russia, most people pay with cash due to credit card fraud- this can prove difficult for gaming publishers who only offer credit cards as a payment option- Many publishers choose Xsolla because of the magnitude of cash and e-cash payment options offered exclusively through Xsolla.


Many game developers and publishers stopped at Xsolla's booth to inquire about Xsolla's “No Installation or Chargeback Fees.” This surprised many developers and publishers at E3 because most payment gateway services charge fees to setup the service, as well as fees when a payment is returned (known as a “chargeback”).  Online gaming has a high rate of fraud due to stolen credit cards and money laundering - Xsolla's Fraud Protection covers chargebacks, which is extremely important for Game Publishers, who lose a lot of money due to Chargebacks, over 10% of revenue in many cases.  

Xsolla also offers vital statistics on players- who the players are, where they are located, when they are playing the games, and how they are paying for it.  This information is very important to publishers, because it helps them to understand their players' habits.  It is for these reasons that Xsolla has grown so rapidly in the last year, and why Xsolla believes that E3 was such a success- CEO Alexandr Agapitov, who started 2Pay (now Xsolla) in Russia 6 years ago saw it coming.. According to Agapitov, “I was confident in the success of this company because I knew that we had a good business model and a great service.”

About Xsolla:  
Xsolla, a global virtual currency reseller, has been developing monetization tools for MMO, Social, Mobile and Casual Games for 6 years.  Xsolla's headquarters are in Woodland Hills, California (L.A.), with offices in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.  Xsolla provides payments solutions with easy integration and high payment conversion rates, which increases publishers' ROI.  Xsolla partners with over 150 payment options: credit and pre-paid cards, mobile payments, premium SMS, E-wallets, cash and e-cash, payment kiosks and offers — all within one platform- with no installation, currency exchange or chargeback fees. Xsolla also provides vital statistics such as RPU (Revenue Per User) and ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User) that allows its partners to analyze their players' habits and payment options used, which is essential for successful monetization.  Xsolla works with more than 300 publishers worldwide, including Gameforge, Bigpoint, burda:ic, InnoGames, Wargaming, TravianGames, Kalicanthus, Koramgame, iJet Media, Innova Systems, Mail.ru, and more.

Media Contact:
Heather Hudechek
Xsolla PR Specialist
h.hudechek@xsolla.com
www.xsolla.com

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Xsolla, a global virtual currency reseller, has been developing monetization tools for MMO, Social, Mobile and Casual Games for 6 years. Xsolla's headquarters are in Woodland Hills, California (L.A.), with offices in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Xsolla provides payments solutions with easy integration and high payment conversion rates, which increases publishers' ROI. Xsolla partners with over 150 payment options: credit and pre-paid cards, mobile payments, premium SMS, E-wallets, cash and e-cash, payment kiosks and offers — all within one platform- with no installation, currency exchange or chargeback fees. Xsolla also provides vital statistics such as RPU (Revenue Per User) and ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User) that allows its partners to analyze their players' habits and payment options used, which is essential for successful monetization. Xsolla works with more than 300 publishers worldwide, including Bigpoint, Wargaming.net, Gameforge, TravianGames, Mail.ru, and more..