Live Gamer Buys N-Cash
July 30, 2009 GiN Staff, and Norman Coordinate Leave a comment
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.
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