Xsolla

Xsolla
Industry Payments
Founded 2006
Founder Shurick Agapitov
Headquarters Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Area served
 Worldwide
Website www.xsolla.com

Xsolla is a global payment services company providing "customized monetization solutions" for online games. Being one of the few payment services companies working only in the gaming industry, Xsolla has worked for 8 years. Among payment methods enabled through Xsolla are credit, debit and prepaid cards, online banking, cash and mobile payments and e-wallet.

Their headquarters is located in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. Xsolla has offices in Moscow and Perm in Russia and Kiev, Ukraine. The service is used by game companies, such as Steam,[1][2][3] Aeria Games,[4] BigPoint Games, Gameforge, Ankama Games, Wargaming.net, Gaijin Entertainment, Goodgame Studios, Snail Games, and many others.

History

Beginnings

Founded in 2006 in Perm, Russia by Shurick Agapitov, Xsolla (former 2Pay) was providing payment services via local payment methods (cash kiosks, prepaid cards, money orders and e-wallets). The company was initially targeted at Russian game developers and publishers. Having added PayPal and SMS payment options, 2Pay entered the CIS market and started its global expansion.[5]

Growth

In 2010, 2Pay headquarters were moved to Sherman Oaks, CA. The company was renamed into Xsolla, with its corporate image being designed by Art. Lebedev Studio,[6] a leading Russian web design studio standing behind Yandex search engine, Alfa-Bank, Gazeta.ru, Lenta.ru and many others.

Prospects

By the end of 2013, Xsolla plans to open a new office in Europe (most likely, the Netherlands) to pursue its strategic goal to gain a significant market share in this region. According to Shurick Agapitov, over 50% of Xsolla revenue is to come from European and American game developers and publishers in 2014.[7] The company announced its intentions to diversify its business by providing new services. In November 2013 Xsolla assisted Perfect World Entertainment to self-publish its latest game, Neverwinter, on the Russian market.[8]

Services

Payment services

As of August, 2013 Xsolla works with over 500 payment systems worldwide, among which are credit and prepaid cards, mobile payments, premium SMS, e-wallets, cash, e-cash and bitcoin, and payment kiosks.[9] Along with global payment methods – such as Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express cards and PayPal – Xsolla offers hundreds of local payment options. Among them are local banks (Chase, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, Citibank, etc. in USA, Sberbank, Alfa-Bank, Russian Standard Bank, etc. in Russia, La Caixa and IberCaja in Spain, and so on), local mobile providers (T-Mobile and Vodafone in Germany, MTS, Beeline, MegaFon and Rostelecom in Russia, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint in USA, etc.), local e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller in Europe, Yandex.Money, QIWI and Webmoney in Russia, Cherry Credits and Alipay in China), and many more.

The service is powered by patented algorithm, PayRank that customizes payment options for each individual user based on a number of variables (location, payment history, game type, monetary value, etc.). Of the possible 500 payment options, the user is presented with a selection of the most relevant local ones.

The number of available payment methods has grown sevenfold since 2010, when Xsolla was offering 70 options globally.[10] New payment methods are enabled on a regular basis and automatically added to Xsolla existing projects.

Other services

Billing

In August 2013, Xsolla presented its billing service . The new service allows game publishers and developers get comprehensive support in game monetization. Hosting the game’s billing page, Xsolla sets prices in local currency, enables 1-click payments, runs individual sales and promotions, provides legal and accounting services, and creates customized analytical reports.

Fraud Management

Xsolla claims its fraud and chargeback management service to cover a wide spectrum of events, including chargebacks.[11]

Customer Support

Another auxiliary service provided by Xsolla is customer support.[12]

Products

PayStation

PayStation is Xsolla tool adapted to different interfaces, including i-frame, for in-game use, mobile, tablet and full web usage. It features all payment options available via Xsolla sorted by country and type. Version 2.0 of PayStation was demonstrated at E3 in Los Angeles Convention Center in 2012.[13]

PayBar

PayBar is a compact version of PayStation designed to maximize conversion using minimum space. It displays multiple recommended and previously used payment options and allows to launch a full version of PayStation. PayBar was premiered at E3 in June 2012, and then revealed at gamescom 2012 in Cologne.[14]

PayRank

PayRank is claimed to be a patented algorithm that sorts out payment methods individually for each particular user making the most relevant ones easily accessible.[15] According to Shurick Agapitov, company’s CEO, “Xsolla provides a much richer, deeper service by providing the most relevant payments options to gamers no matter where in the world they are. The Optimization pieces come straight from our patent-pending algorithm called PayRank. While we have over 350-plus payment options on our platform, showing gamers the most relevant options to them is the key behind our system. We use learned behaviors, geo-ip data, conversion tracking, and more to pinpoint the exact ordering of these options so gamers don't have to cut through the clutter to find the payment option of choice.”[16]

Coverage

Xsolla claims to have global coverage, with 100% presence in Russia and CIS and strong presence in other regions. For example, in 2011, Xsolla focused in Ukrainian market as it represents one of the fastest growing markets for the gaming industry in the Eastern European region.[17] The company expands its business portfolio by adding numerous payment systems (such as Skrill[18] and SafetyPay[19] in Europe, Centili in 48 countries,[20] etc.) and game developers/publishers (Barbily,[21] S2 Games,[22] Valve,[23] and many more) worldwide.

References

  1. ↑ "News - Xsolla And Valve Announce Cash Payments to Steam in Russia". Store.steampowered.com. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  2. ↑ "Steam payments available through cash kiosks in Russia". The Verge. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
  3. ↑ "Valve Lets Russian Steam Users Pay Cash At Kiosks". Gamasutra. 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
  4. ↑ "Press Releases - Aeria Games Chooses Xsolla To Monetize Their Games In Russia And Eastern Europe". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  5. ↑ "Энциклопедия: 2PAY | MoneyNews". Moneynews.ru. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  6. ↑ "Фирменный стиль "Иксоллы"". Artlebedev.ru. 2010-10-28. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  7. ↑ Дарья Черкудинова, 27 июня58960 (2010-07-16). "Дорогие игрушки: Как агрегатор платежей Xsolla пробивается в высшую лигу Кремниевой долины — Hopes & Fears — Hopes and fears — поток "Истории"". Hopesandfears.com. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  8. ↑ Как запустить MMORPG в России своими силами: колонка Гэбриеля Хэкера
  9. ↑ "Xsolla Attends 2013 Microsoft Build Developer Conference - LOS ANGELES, July 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/". Prnewswire.com. 2013-07-09. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  10. ↑ "Энциклопедия: 2PAY | MoneyNews". Moneynews.ru. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  11. ↑ "Press Releases - Xsolla, A Leading Global Virtual Currency Reseller, Enjoyed Success At The 2011 E3 Expo Due To Payment Options Offered in Growing Markets And No Insta". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  12. ↑ "Xsolla: an innovative virtual gaming payments platform". Daniel Gusev Blog. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  13. ↑ "Xsolla to Exhibit at E3 2012 in Los Angeles June 5-7; Will Be Unveiling New Products and Services". Stamp Out Piracy. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  14. ↑ "Xsolla Brings International Gaming Payment Solution PayBar to gamescom 2012 | Virtual-Strategy Magazine". Virtual-strategy.com. 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  15. ↑ "GDC Online 2012 ::List of participants". Gdconline2012.b2b-match.com. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  16. ↑ "UBM TechWeb Game Network Newsletter". Jointhegamenetwork.com. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  17. ↑ "Focuses On Ukrainian Online Gaming Payments' Market". Xsolla. 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  18. ↑ "Xsolla начала сотрудничать со Skrill | MoneyNews". Moneynews.ru. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  19. ↑ Schuppelius, Martin. "Xsolla and SafetyPay Join Forces To Monetize Online Games". Payment Observer. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  20. ↑ "via Xsolla now available in 48 countries". Centili. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  21. ↑ "Star Supremacy : Star Supremacy choisi Xsolla" (in French). Mondes Persistants. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  22. ↑ Mr WordPress (2011-10-30). "S2 Games chooses to Xsolla payment solution in the world of game | Electronics in life – Digitals PAD". Geek.digitalspad.com. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  23. ↑ "Xsolla и Valve анонсировали платежную систему для Steam в России". Gamer.ru. Retrieved 2013-08-30.

External links