Xsolla

Xsolla

Industry	Financial services, video games
Founded	2005 (2005)[1]
Founder	Aleksandr Agapitov
Headquarters	Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California , United States of America
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Aleksandr Agapitov, David Stelzer, Chris Hewish
Products	Pay Station, In-Store Store, Anti-Fraud, Launcher, Site Builder, Buy Button, Subscriptions, Login, Funding Club
Services	Payment systems for game publishers, customer support and tax/VAT services
Revenue	US$ 100 million (2021)[2]
Number of employees	490[3]
Website	www.xsolla.com

Xsolla is a global video game commerce company headquartered in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2005 by Aleksandr Agapitov in Perm (Russia), and is incorporated with subsidiaries globally.^[4][5]

Xsolla’s products include digital tools which help with in-game payments and enable alternative payment systems to be used for digital transactions.^[6] According to research conducted by Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, Xsolla could be worth up to $3 billion. In 2020, the company's revenue was $67 million.^[7]

Xsolla clients include Twitch, Smite, Fortnite, Phoenix Labs, Roblox, Warner Bros. Games, Nexters, WEMADE, Gaijin, NetEase Games.^[8][9][10]

History

Beginnings

Founded in 2005^[1] by Alexander Agapitov, Xsolla (then 2Pay) provides payment services via local payment methods (cash kiosks, prepaid cards, money orders and e-wallets). The company was initially targeted at Russian game developers and publishers. Having added PayPal and SMS payment options, 2Pay entered the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)^{[clarification needed]} market and started its global expansion.^[1] Several years after the founding, Xsolla and its core leadership team moved to the United States and officially reincorporated as a US company California Corporation. This allowed the company to greatly expand its operations globally.

Rebranding

In 2010, 2Pay headquarters moved to Sherman Oaks, CA. The company was renamed to Xsolla and transformed into an American company to expand its global operations.^[11][12] The company expanded its business portfolio by adding numerous payment systems.^{[further explanation needed]}

Expansion and partnerships

• January 26, 2012: Xsolla integrated ZipZap’s CashPay™ payment systems to allow for bankless, cash-based transactions for online game purchases.^[13]
• August 10, 2012: Xsolla’s partnership with Openbucks enabled the use of unused gift cards from retail brands (such as Subway, Burger King, Circle K, and CVS) for game customers in the United States and Canada.^[14]
• September 14, 2013: Xsolla announced the addition of the Greenlight service to the company's product roster. Greenlight allowed for game customers to suggest new payment options currently unavailable in certain games.^[15]
• April 29, 2014: Xsolla announced the opening of a new office within São Paolo, Brazil. Xsolla began offering local payment methods in Brazil which included local bank transfers, cash payment systems, and prepaid cards.^[16]
• March 17, 2014: Xsolla announced they were integrating their services within EVE Online to service customers in Russia, the CIS, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.^[17]
• August 1, 2014: Xsolla announced that following a partnership with Twitch.tv, the company would be processing all of the streaming services’ alternative payment methods including the use of e-wallets, cash vouchers, cryptocurrencies, and local payment systems.^[18]
• December 23, 2014: Xsolla partnered with PayGarden to expand its supported gift cards by over 100 major gift card brands.^[19]
• May 14, 2015: Xsolla announced a partnership with merchant acquirer Secure Trading Financial Services (STFS). The goal of the partnership was to achieve faster processing of credit card payments.^[20]
• May 21, 2015: Xsolla announced their collaboration with Unity in developing the Xsolla Unity SDK. The Xsolla Unity SDK would enable web-based and client-based games to integrate Xsolla’s payment methods in their games directly, rather than redirecting to a web portal or separate storefront.^[21]
• April 26, 2021: Xsolla acquired advanced the data analysis company Slemma and planned to integrate all of Slemma’s tools into Xsolla’s various platforms.^[22][23]
• August 11, 2022: Xsolla and software/services provider Adikteev announced their partnership to help mobile developers sell and monetize their games more efficiently.^[24]
• February 15, 2022: Xsolla partners with venture capital company Nazca to form video game venture Joystick Ventures.^[25]
• October 19, 2022: Xsolla partnered with Alipay+ and integrated their suite of services to allow Asian-based gamers more accessibility when purchasing digital goods in-game.^[26]
• In September 2023, it was announced Xsolla had acquired the multi-player gaming platform, AcceleratXR.^[27]
• In March 2024, Xsolla announced Xsolla Wallet to help simplify the monetization process for developers and creators. It also announced it was expanding its services into Africa.^[28]

Metaverse Project

On February 21, 2022, Aleksandr Agapitov announced the company’s launch of X.LA, a “community-driven organization designed to democratize how creators benefit from their work by utilizing novel technologies and concepts of Web3.” X.LA works by leveraging blockchain and Web3 technologies to enable revenue-sharing deals more accessible to creators globally through a decentralized protocol.^[8]

Products

Xsolla’s current monetization product offerings consist of 10 gaming-specific ecommerce tools: Xsolla Pay Station, In-Game Store, Player Inventory, Subscriptions, Buy Button, Site Builder, Web Shop, NFT Checkout, Multi-Platform Publishing, Digital Distribution Hub, and Anti-fraud solution.^[29]

Xsolla Pay Station allows Xsolla partners to monetize their product by providing an interface for users around the world to pay for in-game purchases in game stores. The tool supports more than 130 world currencies.^{[30][non-primary source needed]}

The in-game store is a service for managing in-game purchases. The service functions as an in-game digital marketplace where players can purchase in-game and other digital items. Developers can access integrated marketing and price management tools.^[31]

• Xsolla Player Inventory allows developers to track and sync customer purchases, and grant and revoke in-game items and currency from a specific user's inventory.
• Xsolla’s Subscriptions allow developers to create and adjust subscription plans from a comprehensive dashboard.
• Xsolla Buy Button is an ecommerce solution for game developers that supports various monetization options. It allows the purchase of game keys, virtual items, and virtual currency with either real or other virtual currencies.
• Xsolla Site Builder allows developers to create sites in order to sell and promote pay-to-play games, free-to-play games, and in-game items.^[32]
• Web Shop is a tool that allows mobile game developers to sell virtual items, virtual currencies and bundles using the Xsolla payment UI and store interface on their own website.^[33][34]
• Anti-fraud improves fraud detection with specific in-game parameters, separates fraudulent activity from legitimate purchases, and detects serial fraudsters across games.^[35]
• Xsolla currently offers three services focused on community growth and publishing support for video games: Xolla Launcher, Xsolla Login, And Xsolla’s Digital Distribution Hub.^[36]
• Xsolla Funding Club is a partner search service for video game developers, investors and publishers.^[37]
• Xsolla Game Investment Platform is designed for individual investors seeking co-investment strategies. The platform contains a portfolio of games ready to accept investments.^{[38][non-primary source needed]}

Awards

On April 5, 2022, Xsolla was announced as the winner of Mobile Games Awards “Best Service Provider” award.^[39] On October 4, 2022, Xsolla received the Gold tier Merit Award for gaming.^[40]

Management

Aleksandr Agapitov is Xsolla’s Founder and former CEO. On February 2, 2022, Agapitov stepped down and appointed Konstantin Golubitsky as CEO. Chris Hewish is the current president of Xsolla.^{[41][8][7][42]}

Controversy

In 2020, Bitbox Ltd. announced that it was shutting down its game Life Is Feudal: MMO, alleging that Xsolla was not paying them.^[43] This has resulted in a lawsuit between the two companies.^[44]

In 2021, Xsolla fired 150 employees based on their performance metric which was measured using big data and AI analytics.^[45][46]

References