Xsolla, a leading global video game commerce company, announced new solutions and feature releases during their quarterly release week. Xsolla is partnering with Mastercard to simplify and customize the payment process for players and developers. Xsolla is also expanding its Digital Distribution Hub into the global telecommunications industry and its global audience of 7.3 billion mobile phone users. Lastly, developers will soon have a new way to reach a larger audience worldwide by connecting more players through the cloud and offering a new pay-as-you-go model.

“At Xsolla, we’re excited about the potential opportunities of cloud gaming. Our vision is to make gaming more widely available, to get games into the hands of more players, make them more accessible to anyone, anytime, and anywhere through the cloud,” said Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla. “We are committed to supporting developers. We make it easier for them to reach their audience by bringing together the streaming technology behind their games and giving them the power to create immersive branded online experiences for players worldwide.”

Pay With Points

Mastercard and global video game commerce company Xsolla announced plans to collaborate on frictionless, secure, and rewarding payments for gamers – from enhanced checkout experiences using credit card loyalty points to simple in-game currency gifting to improved creator payout processes and more. The partnership will combine Mastercard’s technology, network-level expertise, global scale, and trusted connections with Xsolla’s platform to create customizable and more accessible payment experiences for players, developers, and creators.

Mobile devices have been fueling gaming growth among all demographics and regions, with nearly 3.2 billion people – nearly half the world’s population – estimated to have played games in 2022. But the digital commerce experiences that fuel developers’ innovation in gaming have not kept pace with the growth. More than 40% of consumers say they need help to buy in-game currency, and more than 30% say it takes too many steps to make online gaming purchases. Nearly 30% say the gifting process could be more efficient, according to Mastercard research. 

Mastercard and Xsolla will work together to enable innovative card and account-based solutions and services to improve digital experiences in payments and beyond for gamers. To kickstart this game-changing partnership, for the first time, Mastercard cardholders will be able to use Pay with Points to seamlessly redeem their loyalty points for in-game purchases – this solution will be integrated into Xsolla’s Pay Station product. Players will also have the opportunity to gift in-game currency to friends and family. The companies are partnering to solve challenges in the gaming industry and prioritize consumer protections, including using Mastercard’s authentication and fraud detection capabilities to give parents control before their child makes in-game purchases.

Xsolla Digital Distribution Hub

The Digital Distribution Hub solution is a single portal for online and offline distribution channels and brands that create and distribute entertainment content for their users. With this solution, game developers can partner directly with telecommunications carriers to market, distribute and sell games and in-game goods through a single app or online portal, and for games to be included in carrier promotional bundles. Developers can provide their games and content to be distributed and sold through the carrier’s online store and webshop. 

Carriers can take advantage of Xsolla’s unique network by offering exclusive content, entertainment experiences, and promotions to acquire new users through games currently on Xsolla. They can also retain existing customers by providing exclusive gaming perks, content, and upgrades to which competing carriers would not have access. 

Through the Digital Distribution Hub, carriers can provide a wider variety of entertainment, content, and games to a diverse consumer base. At the same time, consumers can use their favorite carrier apps or digital marketplaces to make gaming-related transactions along with their everyday purchases – all in one place with a few clicks. 

Xsolla Cloud Gaming

Reaffirming its belief in the future of cloud technologies, Xsolla is powering its Cloud Gaming solution to help developers aggregate multiple technologies and streaming vendors with fewer steps and less time to help improve the speed to market for its partners. 

As the video game industry has grown over the past several years, so have the cloud-based technologies that help businesses operate. Xsolla plans to integrate the pre-built tools with local vendors and leverage the Xsolla global infrastructure to help create branded online experiences where players can play on any device. Xsolla believes that by bringing more games to the cloud, the integration costs and time to launch games will continue to decrease. 

With the launch of the Cloud Gaming solution, Xsolla will also help increase the availability of cloud-based games to players around the globe and provide them with the ability to pay as they go for their gaming experiences. Players can now demo games online previously unavailable to them in their region and only pay for the time they played the game. Developers will gain crucial insights into user behavior and revenue projections to aid in future game builds and updates for their players. With the cloud experience, everyone can win and enjoy the game.