How to take video game payments to the next level

In our whitepaper, Taking payments to the next level for video games’ new era, we take a look at how blossoming technologies, from VR to the metaverse, are changing the gaming industry.

Assessing the impact this will have on game developers, publishers, streamers, and most importantly, players, we look at how video game payments will need to evolve, embracing methods from digital wallets to online cash to help build the exciting future of the next generation of gaming.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how the payments ecosystem is changing with these video game innovations. And if you want to learn more about video games’ new era, download the full report.

How are players paying in video gaming?

Sliding coins into an arcade machine for a handful of lives is a distant memory for many gamers (and younger players may never have experienced this joy). As gaming has evolved, moving out of arcade halls to now encompass mobile, console, PC and streaming, the use of physical currency has dwindled.

Gone are the friction-full trips to brick-and-mortar stores, with the emergence of subscription services and online marketplaces like Steam helping consumers avoid lines and easily download new titles, content, demos, and other add-ons typically through a digital wallet and points system.

Now, the free-to-play model has shaken things up further, with games like Epic Games’ Fortnite and Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone allowing players to pay for hardware, while the software is free. Instead of funds arriving from physical disc purchases, developers and publishers can rely upon in-game cosmetic add-ons and ‘battle passes’, where players are granted limited-time rewards often tied to seasons.

So, if video game payments have already changed this much, what’s next for the industry?  

How video game payments must adapt to new technology

The video games industry is rapidly evolving as developers, publishers and streamers embrace new technologies. Take Apple’s Vision Pro, for example, and questions around how the mixed-reality platform will work. Will the digital marketplace, the App Store, be available on the device or will a new and XR-friendly version of the marketplace be created and linked with its digital wallet, Apple Pay?  

And there are other sizable developments, centred around the emergence of the metaverse.

Roblox, which has more than 66 million daily active users and describes itself as an ‘experience’ platform, now has an economy run on its own virtual currency Robux, where players can earn and buy the coins held in a digital wallet.

This system is expected to be transposed into virtual reality with Roblox’s partnership with Meta. The company has said the game is coming to Meta Quest, starting with an open beta.

Blockchain technology is also being touted as a foundational framework for the metaverse and the future of gaming. Notably, EVE Online studio CCP Games is making a blockchain-based game. And this is just the tip of the iceberg – it’s certain that major developers will continue to embrace these exciting new technologies to deliver different experiences to players.

But to ensure gamers can enjoy these technologies without friction, payment systems must adapt and cater to players across all devices and platforms. Key to this is working with a payments platform that provides a broad suite of future-proof capabilities, adaptable to the changing landscape – capable of offering digital wallets, fiat on-ramp (and off-ramp), online cash solutions and hundreds of globally and locally relevant alternative payment methods.

With the right platform, game developers, streamers and publishers can best serve their players, and enjoy the bright future of video gaming.

To find out more, download our whitepaper, Taking payments to the next level for video games’ new era, or meet the Paysafe team at Gamescom 2023, at Hall 2.2, Booth A-024.