PlaySpan Raises $18 Million For Virtual Goods Marketplace; Will Expand To Europe And Asia. Virtual goods marketplace platform Playspan has raised $18 million in Series C funding led by Vodafone Ventures and Softbank Bodhi Fund, with existing investors Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC, and others participating in the round.
This brings the startup’s total funding to a whopping $42 million. PlaySpan powers virtual goods marketplaces across 1,000 video games and virtual world publishers and. PlaySpan-powered marketplaces lets users sell, exchange and purchase online game items, virtual goods, and game currencies for online games and applications. The platforms also allow publishers to managing global micropayments, ecommerce, and micro-transactions across 180 countries. And the company operates virtual goods storefronts on Facebook, MySpace, within games and on its standalone site.
As virtual goods becomes a booming business, PlaySpan has reaped the benefits of technology and media companies looking to incorporate virtual goods into their platforms. Facebook Taps PlaySpan’s UltimatePay To Offer 20 More Ways To Pay For Credits. PlaySpan has been on a tear recently, striking partnerships with a number of gaming and media companies, including Ubisoft, Sanrio and others.
And today, the company is getting another vote of confidence—from Facebook. The social network will now offer PlaySpan’s UltimatePay payments product as a payments option for users who buy Facebook Credits, the network’s virtual currency that is used in more than 200 games and applications from over 75 developers. In conjunction with the announcement, Facebook is opening up credits to more developers today. UltimatePay is a ‘Monetization as a Service’ platform for apps, games, videos and digital goods. Based on the user’s location, the payments platform draws from over 85 different payment options. Features and Benefits - UltimatePay - PlaySpan Wiki - Merchant Support. Skip to end of metadataGo to start of metadata UltimatePay has taken payments to a new level.
Incorporating over 85 global payment methods with a smart and simple user interface, UltimatePay optimizes payments to convert more shoppers to customers than ever before. UltimatePay is easy to integrate, stitches seamlessly into your site, and provides simple, consolidated reporting and settlement for all payments. Using advanced features, UltimatePay transactions can be linked with customer metrics, tracking, and financial systems to provide a comprehensive view of all customer behavior.
Please see the links to the left for the ways in which UltimatePay can support your business and replace an entire monetization team. Key Features Accept payments quickly and easily Keep your users in the game Stylize your lightbox for your look and feel 85+ payment methods Price in local currencies, or let us price for you Localized payment methods and languages Fraud management Friendly customer service. 85+ Payment Methods - PlaySpan Wiki - Merchant Support.
Skip to end of metadataGo to start of metadata Every time we display the Lightbox, we check the your user's demographics to ensure we're showing the most relevant payment options so you can maximize conversion.
In addition to processing credit cards and PayPal, UltimatePay can handle more than 85 payment methods world-wide. If it's in your customer's wallet, we more than likely accept it. And we're adding more alternatives monthly so you don't have to. UltimatePay utilizes least cost routing on payment methods that have multiple providers, such as mobile, credit cards and direct debit. Monetization as-a-Service. PlaySpan Partners With Facebook For Facebook Credits. Facebook is partnering with PlaySpan to make it easier for users to buy Facebook Credits.
Facebook will use PlaySpan's UltimatePay to introduce over 20 new global payment options for Facebook Credits. Over 200 games from over 75 developers on the Facebook platform use Facebook Credits for allowing users to buy virtual goods. "We are tremendously excited to be partnering with Facebook and have been very impressed with their Credits program," said Karl Mehta, CEO of PlaySpan, in a press statement. "PlaySpan has been an evangelist of the free-to-play and microtranscation movement for the last several years, and we believe that the Facebook Credits platform will be the catalyst that will take it mainstream. " The new Facebook Credits payment options available through PlaySpan are primarily intended to serve international users. Developers of Facebook games that use Credits won't have to do anything to enable the new payment methods.
New Credits Partner PlaySpan Will Bring 20 More Payment Options to Facebook. New Credits Partner PlaySpan Will Bring 20 More Payment Options to Facebook Virtual goods monetization service company PlaySpan is the latest partner for Facebook Credits, following a long string of others, most recently Sometrics.
Announced as part of a larger expansion of the virtual currency today, PlaySpan will begin providing 20 more payment options within the main Credits purchasing interface in the coming months. As part of a broader set of virtual goods services, the company has been building up a portfolio of payment options to make it easier for users to buy a publisher’s virtual goods using local providers. This deal helps Facebook quickly make it easier for users to pay in the international markets where PlaySpan has worked to develop payment partnerships. The product itself is called UltimatePay, and it is appearing already for some international users within the Credits interface — in lieu of the existing, credit card-focused interface.
[PlaySpan screenshot via ReadWriteWeb.]