Xsolla unveils crossplay and crosspay strategy for monetizing mobile games

Xsolla, a game commerce company, has introduced Cross-Play Cross-Pay, a new combined approach to mobile game monetization.

In response to the evolving platform landscape, Xsolla’s suite of solutions enables mobile game developers to seamlessly transition their games from mobile to the web, desktop, and cloud while offering diverse monetization models out-of-the-box to power profitable direct-to-consumer sales for game developers.

What do we mean by evolving? Well, Apple was fined $1.9 billion this week by the European Union for its anticompetitive stance toward music apps in Europe. Google lost an antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games, and Apple will be forced in the U.S. to allow game devs to advertise offstore discounts in alternative app store. Google also got pilloried by Epic Games for its stance on compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

Xsolla said the upcoming enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) today (March 6) marks another step in the market shift towards digital e-commerce freedom. The current state of the alternative billing in-app does not offer flexibility or a real discounted rate for game developers, which makes Web Shop the best method for mobile game success.

With these developments, players can anticipate engaging with their favorite titles seamlessly across all platforms, form factors, and control methods. This growing expectation places crossplay at the forefront of modern game development strategies. Mobile game developers can now easily deploy their games across mobile, PC, console, cloud, and web with Xsolla Launcher and Xsolla Cloud Gaming.

Xsolla Launcher makes it easier for developers to leverage the capabilities of desktop computing, including enhanced graphics, gameplay depth, and longer play sessions when porting mobile games to PC.

And Xsolla said that its cloud gaming for mobile games, in turn, is a strategic extension of the core Xsolla Cloud Gaming solution. It enables mobile video game developers to expand cross-platform by deploying game builds to cloud platforms directly from the developer’s own branded landing page, allowing them to deliver flexible monetization mechanics for mobile users.

Crossplay experience ensures consistent and fair monetization strategy across all platforms for developers around the world. This approach ensures equal access to game content for players, thereby enhancing the overall playing experience while adhering to platform rules and guidelines. Xsolla Web Shop, a leading solution for web purchases, is a foundation for the direct-to-consumer strategy for mobile game developers.

Web Shops are easily customizable branded online stores fully equipped to facilitate in-game web purchases. The next iteration of the Xsolla Web Shop Solution includes innovative updates drawing on Xsolla’s expertise gained from launching over 210 Web Shops and 40 of the top 100 highest-grossing mobile games worldwide.

Xsolla Web Shop has added advanced LiveOps tools, additional personalization and engagement features, and an improved user flow for seamless purchases. Alongside these enhancements, Xsolla’s experts are available to offer guidance and support by providing best practices consultation in navigating the operation and management of web shops.

“The advancements made with Cross-Play Cross-Pay have been a focus of our innovation over the past year after collaborating with numerous partners and launching over 200 web shops in 2023. This extensive real-world application with customer feedback has helped mobile game developers to efficiently market their games online by operating within the platform guidelines,” said David Stelzer, president of Xsolla, in a statement. “Cross-Play Cross-Pay is our strategic innovation to meet the continuously evolving demands of the ever-changing mobile game industry. By delivering a multi-platform solution for mobile game developers, we can help them to reach more players and to grow their business.”

Xsolla’s PayPay option for Japan

In other news, Xsolla launched Pay with PayPay for its global partners and video game players in Japan.

By offering this additional payment method at checkout, game developers worldwide can expand their reach into the Japanese market and meet the evolving needs of their players. This partnership also directly supports Xsolla’s commitment to the region and the new local office expansion in Tokyo, Japan, this past August.

With 58 million users and growing, PayPay is the largest Japanese mobile payment app, accepted both online and at physical retailers across Japan. Based on a 2022 study by Rakuten Insight, around 55% of shoppers in Japan prefer using PayPay, which holds a 45% market share in the QR code payment sector. Users create an account in the mobile app and connect a bank account or credit card to pay for everyday purchases.

“We’re excited to connect PayPay to Xsolla and allow our global partners to reach a new audience and offer another payment option to their players,” said Chris Hewish, CEO of Xsolla, in a statement. “This partnership will give our partners increased coverage for their players in Japan and allow them to tap into the power of innovative payment tech, like QR codes.”

Xsolla Payments simplifies the checkout journey with an intuitive, multi-platform UI, compatibility with popular mobile wallets, and access to 700-plus payment methods and 130-plus currencies in over 200-plus regions. Its PayRank technology automatically surfaces and ranks the payment methods most relevant for each customer, like PayPay.

Xsolla unveils Web Shop 2.0

Lastly, Xsolla introduced Web Shop 2.0. Web Shops are white label digital stores where players purchase in-game items, currencies, and top up their accounts, all from the developers branded website.

Since Xsolla’s focus on web monetization began in 2021, Xsolla has launched 210-plus Web Shops for leading mobile studios worldwide across multiple genres.

Drawing on this extensive experience, Xsolla has been building a new, innovative version of its flagship solution, Web Shop, designed to help mobile game developers construct direct-to-consumer monetization strategies to increase revenue by motivating gamers to pay on the web.

“Xsolla Web Shop 2.0 is a testament to our commitment to evolving with the mobile gaming industry’s needs. This innovation results from launching over 200 Web Shops, including 40 of the top 100 highest-grossing mobile games worldwide. This extensive real world application with customer feedback has been pivotal in expanding the Web Shop solution for mobile games. We continue to focus on actual market needs and provide tailored solutions, setting us apart in the industry,” said Stezler, in a statement. “Xsolla Web Shop is our strategic innovation to meet the evolving demands of the mobile gaming industry. By emphasizing user-level personalization and instant web shop launch, we enhance how developers engage with players and maximize their revenue.”

With this release, Xsolla is unveiling the Instant Web Shop, a templatized online store fully functional to power web purchases in as little as 24 hours. This rapid deployment tool for starting immediate revenue collection improves user awareness of the advantages of making purchases on the web.

As a next step, once the value hypothesis is validated, developers can build a comprehensive LiveOps system with Web Shop LiveOps tools for sales management.

The latest features include advanced LiveOps Tools, which A/B testing, featured offers, first purchase offers, secret shop promotions, coupons, promo codes, and both time-limited and number-limited offers. These tools enable developers to craft highly valuable player experiences.

It also offers personalized offers, discount promotions, bonus promotions, a loyalty program, and a reward system developers can significantly increase player engagement and loyalty. And it has seamless, one-click payments with Xsolla Wallet, PWA (Progressive Web Application) and Deeplink Authentication.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz