Valista, makes multi-channel payments, settlement and service lifecycle management solutions,
accelerating and automating digital commerce. That’s quite a mouthful so Gamers Daily News took the time to talk with Mark Denton, Director of Product Management at Valista to sort it all out.

[GDN] What was the deciding factor for Valista to extend into the gaming arena?

[MD] It was mainly due to a change in the market. The gaming industry is increasingly moving towards online games in which players work with or compete against each other. At the same time the sales model for games is changing, games are no longer being sold in a standard boxed format with a fixed price or downloadable subscription model. Games vendors are increasingly looking for repeat revenue streams from in-game revenues such as the sale of equipment, limited edition items, additional levels, etc. Games sold in this manner provide a low barrier to play as a result of the low upfront cost. yet because of their extended social play over time, gamers generate more revenue than if the games were sold by other methods, as gamers are less likely to question small value micro payments. It has been estimated that games sold in this way can generate three times the revenue of comparable games sold in traditional models. 


[GDN] How did Valista’s history prepare it to enter the gaming market? What key services did you already have that you found would apply to games?

[MD] Valista had a number of technology components which were helpful, not least of which was the ability to have a stored value account that can be used for low cost payments and the accrual of game points/rewards. In addition Valista’s ability to control consumption of in-game assets such as bullets, limited edition clothing, etc. has proven invaluable. Finally, Valista has an eligibility engine which can be used to work out in-game rewards and entitlements using thousands of facts about the game or the user to determine what they are allowed to do next.