Gaming spotlight
The rise of iGaming and iSports and the metaverse in 2023
Kamran Hedjri, Group CEO for PXP Financial discusses the growth of iGaming and iSports and how gaming is changing in the face of the metaverse.
A
lthough online gaming has seen steady growth in the last few years, 2020 and 2021 were significant thanks to the pandemic.
Newzoo reports there were 2.69 billion gamers in the world by the end of 2020, and growth has been steady with an average of 5.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase. Tis growth shows no sign of slowing, with the gaming industry as a whole tipped to be worth $321 billion by 2026. As more and more players turn to online games to
socialise and spend their free time, more will soon find themselves stepping into a brave new virtual world.
Stepping into the metaverse Ever since Facebook re-branded as ‘Meta’, the online gaming industry has been buzzing with talk of the metaverse. Tis is new territory for us all, but I can confidently say the metaverse will be a defining feature of online gaming in 2023 and beyond. iGaming and iSports companies will invest more resources
into developing customer loyalty programs that persuade users to spend more time in their online metaverse space, and everyone from online casinos to traditional online gaming companies will be competing for consumer attention in new and pervasive ways. Before long, entire economies will take shape in the metaverse,
giving rise to a new set of payment challenges tied, in part, to the complexities of managing cross-border transactions.
A new world of payment challenges Te days of buying a box of soſtware or a physical disc or cartridge are all but behind us. Today the subscription model is king, complete with add-ons and skins to keep players engaged. Tere are several points of contact between gamers, platforms, and even advertisers to connect and transact. Te metaverse is still in its early stages, so there isn’t a single
payment system that’s been widely adopted. However, most payment systems will work either with cryptocurrencies or normal fiat currencies. In-game microtransactions in online gaming platforms are a big business, with games like Fortnite making billions of dollars each
44 | December/January 2023
year from selling digital goods to their players. Tese transactions are usually made with fiat currency. Tere are two main types of fiat-based virtual economies. Te first use a central payment processor, like PayPal, and major credit card networks. Others use a virtual currency that you can buy with fiat currency and use in the game, such as FIFA coins in EA Sports Soccer. Te other side of the payments coin in the
metaverse is, of course, cryptocurrency, which has a lot of advantages when it comes to buying and selling digital assets, including near-instant cross-border
transactions at a fraction of the cost of fiat-based payment systems. One thing that won’t change – regardless of whether gamers
playing on their mobile devices or in a 3D virtual casino – is that in order to provide the best and most appropriate payment experiences possible, merchants must understand which payment methods are used in different types of gaming. Doing so will ensure payment doesn’t interfere with play,
and supports the immersive player experience the metaverse is designed to create. For the average online gamer, three things are important when
choosing a payment method: speed, fees and limits. Everyone wants to send and receive money instantly, and no one wants to lose a large percentage of their cash to fees. It’s also important for online games’ payment method to support flexible limits; aſter all, most in-game purchases involve small amounts of cash. As the world of gaming continues to grow and evolve,
developers must ensure the tech behind taking payments does the same. Te iGaming industry has always been at the forefront
of technology. In the 1990s, early pioneers combined new developments like the Internet and digital payment services to create the first online casinos. It’s therefore reasonable to assume gaming will pave the way as we head into the metaverse. At PXP Financial we offer the right combination of global and
local alternative payment options, to make sure gamers can cash in any way they like, and with 20 years of expertise processing payments for the gaming sector, we can advise what set of options will work best for the countries – or virtual worlds - you operate in.
www.pcr-online.biz
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