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Sony Online Entertainment Expands Relationship With Live Gamer to Power Microtransactions Experience Across Multiple Platforms
(Market Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/25/10 --
Live Gamer (www.livegamer.com), the leading
global provider of total commerce solutions for microtransaction-based
businesses spanning online games, virtual worlds and social networks, today
announced significant upgrades to Elements, an enhanced technology platform
for both primary and secondary markets.
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is to become the first publisher to
implement Elements and significant platform enhancements for powering
microtransactions across their social, web and in-game channels. SOE and
Live Gamer will work closely over the next quarter to seamlessly augment
and upgrade SOE's existing proprietary infrastructure. This collaboration
will enable a unified cross-platform e-wallet and item merchandising
experience within SOE's traditional client-side PC online game business.
Games to take advantage of the Live Gamer platform will include PoxNora®,
Free Realms?, EverQuest® and EverQuest®II, as well as future titles.
Live Gamer's advanced Elements microtransaction platform improves
publishers' ability to drive improved conversion rates, average revenue per
user and retention through new tools such as an upgraded enterprise
storefront, retail merchandising capabilities, advanced item offers and new
analytics features for payment gateway optimization. Live Gamer's Elements
is ideal for browser-based games, social networking platforms, social
applications and client-side MMOs and can be configured easily for
different types of integration.
SIGNIFICANT PLATFORM UPGRADES INCLUDE:
-- SaaS or on-premise installation: Leverage Live Gamer's world-class
hosting or run the platform inside publisher's own data center
-- Support for the global economy: Dynamic currency conversion and full
support for localization
-- Enhanced user management: Per user e-wallet policies including overdraft
or maximum balances, the industry's most advanced velocity limiting, full
parental controls around spending limits, gifting policies
-- Robust API support for integration into existing and 3rd party platforms,
products, and applications: RSS-like data feed to build alerts, reports
and actions around certain in-game economic activity
-- Batch programming: Improves complex business logic to be performed at
high speeds
-- Enhanced storefront: Web-storefront supports both OpenSocial
integration and Facebook connect
-- New reports build on industry leading analytics: Over 130 reports
available including new reports showing revenue performance per payment
gateway
-- Advanced tools to manage complex product configurations such as combined
physical/virtual bundles, subscriptions plus virtual currency bundles and
others
-- Recommendations and Promotions: Advanced merchandising such as
upgraded recommendation engine and flexible discounting functionality
-- Advanced merchandising and discounting functionality
QUOTES:
"The microtransaction industry has become increasingly specialized, and
Live Gamer has helped us with advanced functionality that allows us to
continually stay ahead of the curve in ecommerce," said John Smedley,
president, Sony Online Entertainment. "We chose Live Gamer to power our
payments, merchandising and primary-secondary market solutions based on
innovative technology, recognized track record in the market and an
advanced, holistic approach."
"SOE practically invented the subscription-based billing model for online
games," said Andrew Schneider, president and Co-Founder, Live Gamer. "With
Live Gamer's one-stop shop for total commerce solutions, they'll be able to
integrate advanced commerce functionality and gain greater speed to market
for its games. As publishers continue to build out increasingly robust
in-game virtual item strategies, the need for a dedicated total commerce
solution has become essential."
"Live Gamer has a long history of providing cutting-edge innovations that
enable developers to succeed with virtual economy-based revenue models,"
said William Grosso, CTO and SVP of Product for Live Gamer. "Our
relationship with SOE is incredibly exciting and is additional validation
that our tool chain supports anyone, from the smallest developer to the
largest publisher."
About Live Gamer
Live Gamer is the global leader of total commerce solutions for
micro-transaction-based businesses. Spanning online games, virtual worlds,
and social networks, Live Gamer provides an advanced offering that goes
beyond monetization to drive core business metrics and optimize new
transaction-based revenue streams. Combining its micro-transaction
platform, primary and secondary market management, fraud and security
solutions, scalable publisher support and international payment gateways,
Live Gamer's technology has been adopted by leading publishers in gaming,
social and entertainment including Acclaim, Funcom, NHN USA, Quepasa, MEG
Toys and Sony Online Entertainment, supporting over 65 million users in 23
countries.
Founded in 2007, the company is backed by $26 million in venture funding
from Charles River Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Kodiak Venture Partners,
Rustic Canyon Partners, Triple Point Capital and Venrock. Live Gamer is
headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, CA and
Seoul, Korea. For more information, visit www.livegamer.com or connect with
us on Twitter (@livegamer), Facebook or MySpace.
About Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) is a recognized worldwide leader in
massively multiplayer online games which have entertained millions of
players around the globe. SOE creates and delivers compelling entertainment
for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known
for its blockbuster franchise EverQuest®, its successful online trading
card game Legends of Norrath®, as well as the recent kids' phenomenon
Free Realms?, SOE continues to raise the bar for online gaming and
players worldwide. Headquartered in San Diego, with additional studios in
Austin, Seattle, Denver, Tucson, and Taiwan, SOE has a slate of engaging,
high-quality games currently in development across new genres for all
platforms and audiences.
SOE, the SOE logo, EverQuest and PlanetSide are registered trademarks and
Free Realms and Legends of Norrath are trademarks of Sony Online
Entertainment LLC.
All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective
owners.
© 2009 Live Gamer, Inc. All Rights Reserved. LIVE GAMER and the Live
Gamer logo are registered or unregistered trademarks of Live Gamer, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks are the property
of their respective owners.
Media Contact
Jennifer Lankford
theMIX agency for Live Gamer
Email Contact
415-829-7902
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