How You Can Grow Your Revenue As A Gaming Developer

Xsolla, the world’s leading video game commerce company is uniquely positioned with best-in-class solutions helping developers profit from the recent news regarding app stores and other payment methods. 

“Xsolla anticipated this seismic shift earlier this year, when we launched multiple products that are being actively used by some of the world’s largest game companies to increase profit and build closer relationships with their mobile and pc players. We’ve now combined these products and learnings into an elegant new solution called Xsolla Web Shop,” said Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla.  

Through Xsolla Web Shop, developers can expect up to 40% revenue growth and to reach new players in new geographies previously unavailable to them. 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. 

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

1. 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. 
2. Apple announced a willingness to allow the use of alternative payments methods outside the App Store.
3. South Korea passed a law requiring Apple and Google to open their platforms to alternative payment systems. 

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. 

Yoshio Osaki, President and CEO of IDG Consulting, said in a statement to Xsolla, “Although it is still early days on determining the level of potential impact from Apple’s decision, this represents a positive incremental first step in expanding consumer choice, as well as increased flexibility in monetization and business models for developers who sorely need it. We believe this is a net positive for the industry, but execution and implementation on the part of both Apple and developers will be key.”

Game Commerce Expertise You Can Trust

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.

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

“Through Xsolla Web Shop, we are helping game developers think about and scale their mobile games across multiple platforms to expand their business into new markets and to grow their audience,” said Anton Zelenin, Head of Game Commerce at Xsolla. “The opportunities are even greater, and we’ve seen amazing success stories from partners who have integrated this solution.”

How Does Xsolla Web Shop Help Game publishers?

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. 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. 

But Xsolla Web Shop is much more than simply selling IAPs via a branded location that you control. This solution includes a wealth of benefits for developers and publishers from all over the world, including:

• Savings on platform fees. Xsolla only charges 5% plus channel processing fees, allowing you to generate higher profit and save up to 20% per transaction.
• Access into new regions. Reach players in 250+ countries and allow them to pay using their preferred local method of payment with access to Xsolla’s 700+ payment types. Regions like Southeast Asia and Latin America where credit cards are not as commonly used will see increased retention, while players who use familiar payment methods will spend more.
• Higher retention. Increase retention of local players in specific countries and regions like Southeast Asia and Latin America, where credit cards are not the preferred payment method.
• Top-up online. Add a top-up capability that allows your players to add virtual goods such as currencies and items. They can also upgrade, downgrade, and manage their subscriptions across platforms.
• Easy-to-start FastTrack Integration. Utilize API calls to import your item catalogue to Xsolla so you can start selling right away.
• Support your complete catalogue of games. Unlock growth opportunities for multiple games with a single online experience, and enable game purchases online after porting your mobile game(s) to the web.

• Merchant of record (MoR). Xsolla handles the local taxes, VAT, and other fees as well as compliance with COPPA, GDPR, and other regulations as the MoR for developers and publishers.
• 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 behaviours.
• Understand player behaviour. 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. 
• Built-in influencer marketing. Create performance-based campaigns to promote your webshop to new users with revenue share and coupon/cashback opportunities for players via creator tags and content drops.
• Better user acquisition. Control the UA process with e-commerce campaigns that feature improved discoverability on a global scale.
• Your custom brand experience. Create a customized, branded experience for your game and players rather than being controlled, managed, and limited only to what the app stores provide.

• Physical goods. Create an e-commerce experience to market and sell branded merchandise to your fans.
• Gift purchases and promotions. Increase average user revenue via marketing channels with gift purchases for friends and family, custom bundles, sales, bonus and cashback coupons, upgrades, and more.

The future of mobile games is exciting. There are many opportunities to unlock new revenue and expand your audience through a custom, multi-platform experience that caters to players’ needs and wants. With the proposed changes to the App Store, Xsolla sees the possibility to drive shared momentum for mobile game business growth for its existing and prospective partners.