Live Gamer Acquires N-Cash, Korea’s Premier Micro-Transaction Provider
Acquisition Capitalizes on Global Trend Toward Micro-Transaction-Based
Business Models; Brings Asia’s First Micro-Transaction Platform to the U.S. NEW YORK, (July 29, 2009) – Live Gamer (www.livegamer.com), the company that pioneered publisher-supported real-money-trading for online games, today announced it has completed its acquisition of N-Cash (www.n-cash.net), Korea’s premier micro-transaction provider.
With the acquisition, Live Gamer will add N-Cash’s global publisher-to-player micro-transaction platform, expanding its offering into a fully featured, e-commerce solution with multiple integration options for game operators.
Publishers will be able to turn to one partner – instead of many – to roll out secure micro-transaction-based marketplaces, drive ARPU (average revenue per user), improve conversion rates, and enable sanctioned player-to-player trading while maintaining a great user experience.
“Asian game operators have proven for nearly a decade that publishers can create thriving micro-transaction-based experiences while generating greater revenue opportunities. Today, that market is over $4 billion strong and growing at nearly 30 percent per year. With N-Cash, we’ve acquired a secure, scalable and proven commerce platform which has completed 150 million micro-transactions and is currently handling 56 million registered users,” said Mitchell Davis, Live Gamer Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder. “Our publishing partners want one comprehensive, yet modular, platform. With this acquisition, we will be able to deliver just that.”
N-Cash President David Seo added, “This acquisition brings together two best-in-class players – each with a global track record of success. In less than a decade, we’ve earned a reputation as one of the world’s most tested and secure micro-transaction engines available today. We’ve integrated into more than 100 games across five continents with a battle tested software solution that easily scales as our partners grow.”
"The success of the virtual goods and micro-transaction market in Asia clearly shows this is the wave of the future," said David Cole, lead analyst at research firm DFC Intelligence. "The virtual goods model both increases product usage and is highly profitable for publishers. One of the most important growth areas we have identified is for companies that can expand the Asian business model on a global basis."
Under the terms of the deal, N-Cash s Seo will continue as President of N-Cash. In this role, Seo will work closely with former Microsoft Korea vet Joon Seog Park, who moves into the role of CEO of N-Cash to further expand the company s presence in the region. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Live Gamer: Total Commerce Solution
With the N-Cash acquisition, Live Gamer will now add publisher-to-player transaction capabilities to its existing player-to-player offering. These seamless primary and secondary market engines leverage a full e-commerce platform featuring virtual item SKU management; e-wallet and billing; global payment gateway integration; anti-fraud; and analytics and reporting. This complete yet modular technology stack creates one of the first market-proven total commerce solutions for online games, virtual worlds, social networks, and other virtual environments and allows operators the ultimate flexibility in choosing the right elements for their particular needs. Live Gamer works closely with publishers to drive ARPU and improve conversion rates while maintaining a great user experience.
"For 6 years, N-Cash has been successfully handling our growing volume of micro-transactions with care and re |
