Archive for June, 2009

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Gameforge CEO Klaas Kersting to deliver “Free-to-play vs. Payment Models” keynote at GDC Europe

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Founded in 2003 by Klaas Kersting and Alexander Rösner, German based Gameforge quickly became the de-facto destination for European free-to-play gamers.  With award winning games, both client and browser based, including OGame, Ikariam, and Metin2, Gameforge has attracted over 75 million gamers from around the globe.

Klaas KerstingMr. Kersting is expected to share his knowledge and experience with GDC Europe attendees, and will deliver a track keynote titled, “Changes in the Games Industry – Free-to-play vs. Payment Models.”  Kersting will share his thoughts and advice on the success of the free-to-play business model.  He’ll also cover the differences between gaming attitudes and cultural backgrounds when it comes to various payment models.

“Gameforge develops pioneering and groundbreaking technologies in the browser-based game sector, which is driving the whole industry,” said Frank Sliwka, Vice President European Business Development of Think Services Game Group. “GDC Europe is focused on delivering content that appeals to a global audience, while presenting content that represents and showcases the European development community. Gameforge is one of those companies that exemplifies the European spirit of innovation, and as a market leader, we anticipate a keynote that is powerful, informative and inspiring.”

Kersting’s keynote speech should dovetail nicely into Double Fusion’s Direct of Developer Relation’s Brian Blau is expected to talk about in-game advertising.  Blau’s talk will review the design and implementation aspects of dynamic in-game advertising placements.  He’ll also be presenting examples of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in respect to which ads have worked, not worked so well, and outright failed.

Both Kersting’s keynote and Blau’s session will deal with the rapidly changing state of the gaming industry.  One discussing the microtransaction position, the other the in-game advertising stance.  As we’ve seen over the past year, a number of free-to-play titles are being introduced to the market in hybrid form.  Meaning, these titles are choosing wisely, and not relying on simply one form of monetization, but diversifying and offering players subscriptions for premium content, microtransaction options, and perhaps a pre or post game advertising roll.  Both of these sessions should be of high value and interest to any gaming developers looking into the future, and realizing that the state of play is no longer what it once was.

Taking place between the 17th and 19th of August at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne, Germany, the GDC Europe expects over 1,500 attendees from 48 countries around the globe.  The GDC Europe is regarded as the preeminent European games developer conference.

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Outsourcing Game Development: No Longer Optional, A Necessity

Monday, June 29th, 2009

According to a new report released by Tiga, the UK’s game developer trade organization, a number of key game developers are pointing to outsourcing development as no longer optional, but a required necessity to their craft.  83 percent of UK game developers outsource at least one business process.  And these aren’t just basement developers, and casual hobbyists, but rather those taking part in the survey included the likes of Blitz Games, Monumental Games, Ubisoft Reflections and Zoe Mode.  These names all accredited an outsource process as an essential component to their production in order to meet tight deadlines, specialized skill requirements, and scalability issues.  And naturally, it almost goes without saying, but in today’s challenging economic climate, outsourcing, and its included flexibility are looking more and more attractive to more and more game houses.

logoWhile outsourcing can alleviate a number of in-house headaches, most developers agreed that outsourcing requires a high level of planning, communication, and ongoing management.  Zoe Mode art director Ben Hebb says, “Clear communication and planning is everything. Having enough internal resource to manage and feedback on work is vital.”  David Tolley, head of outsourcing projects at Monumental Games adds, “Successful outsource contribution is driven by experience, passion and strong support from internal staff. A few short years ago, outsourcing was almost taboo now it is a necessity.”

Quickstart Global also contributed to the outsourcing study, and adds, For now, the key question is not should you do it, or even is this the right time to do it, but how you can outsource while maintaining cost and quality control.

Ubisoft Reflections Associate Producer William Brown states, “As we begin to see the impact of the recent financial crisis along with the ever-increasing scale and expectations of current and next generation games, we are embracing outsourcing as one of the ways we can stay competitive in the global market.”

With 83 percent of all UK games developers looking outside their own four walls, it’s readily apparent that the once unthinkable is quickly becoming the method of choice: outsourcing.  While no specifics were given out as to what processes are involved, you can bet that one of these is microtransaction market outsourcing. fatfoogoo has built highly scalable, modular, ready to plug and play primary and secondary market technologies as well as subscription and user management technology.  But if you’re here reading this, you probably know that already, and have already chosen the world leader in microtransaction and micropayment systems for game developer providers.  Welcome.  Let’s talk.

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Stand and be counted Soldier – Battlefield Heroes goes open beta

Friday, June 26th, 2009

It’s been a long, and I do mean long, time coming, but it’s now official: No more beta keys needed to get in on the cartoonish Battlefield Heroes fun.  While EA chose to ignore the traditional press release route, the announcement was confirmed on the Battlefield Heroes forum, stating that the Security Layer is gone, no need for a beta key, and the NDA has been lifted.  W00t!

Battlefield Heroes Play NowEA’s quietly been letting more and more players in on the browser based, free-to-play fun for over a year now, and the lack of press release may suggest that EA learned a lesson or two from the Quake Live mad dash, people locked out, potential customer lost fiasco that occurred when the other popular free-to-play online title went live.

While we’ve covered the ongoing trials and tribulations of actually making it to public launch day, a quick refresher.  Battlefield Heroes is one of the growing number of free-to-play titles that NoCal gaming giant Electronic Arts has been slowly adding to their offerings.  Loosely based on DICE’s highly successful Battlefield series, this cartoonish fighter pits two opposing sides against each other, with a wide variety of fighting options.  Tanks, planes, heck, riding on plane wings, it’s all available.

The game is supported through in-game advertising and character customization microtransactions.  The ads appear only in pre-roll format, and the microtransactions are both reasonably priced and feature enough customizations to make even the staunchest of ‘I’m not paying for it’ microtransaction haters have a smile, and perhaps a click through to purchase.  Initially, EA and DICE reported that microtransaction items would only take the form of cosmetic upgrades, but it appears as though “convenience” items have now been added to the list of available goodies.  While I didn’t see anything that would provide an overwhelming boost in performance, it’s entirely possible that these items are there to help speed those along that either do not or can not play as long as other Battlefield Heroes players.

By opening the game slowly and fine-tuning this, that and the other firmly signals EA’s commitment to this project.  All too often in today’s free-to-play market, we see a title brought to market that may be fraught with bugs and serious design flaws, with developers intentions to address them and fix them as soon as possible.  EA/DICE have done this to some extent, by delaying the public opening by over a year, but at the same time, more or less letting anyone who wanted to play in the door with a wink, a nod, and a not-so-hard-to-obtain beta key.

Now that the doors are wide open, it’s time for the rest of us to sit back and see just how much appeal Battlefield Heroes has to the general populace.  That, and head shot a few n00bs in the process.  See ya on the Battlefield!

http://www.battlefieldheroes.com/

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Nexon’s newest, Dungeon Fighter Online gears up for beta

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Building upon the success of their recent worldwide hit, Combat Arms, it looks like the Nexon train just keeps a rollin’ along.  Yesterday they sent over a note announcing that they’ve opened the doors on the closed beta signups for their newest title, Dungeon Fighter Online.  Signups close on the 6th of July, and no word has been given as to when the beta will commence.

dfo_teaserLooking to kill two birds with one stone, Nexon’s newest free-to-play combines classic arcade style ‘shoot ‘em up’ action with elements of RPGs that make them so addictive fun to play.  Set in the mythical world of Arad, a peaceful land that’s somehow managed to piss off some pretty nasty baddies, beta testers will be among the first in North America to explore, quest, and raid in this upcoming freebie from Nexon.

Players can choose from five different character classes: Fighter, Gunner, Mage, Priest or Slayer, with each naturally displaying unique attributes, traits, and attack combinations.  From here on out, the RPG elements come to the forefront, with characters venturing off through the world, exploring and discovering new towns, areas, etc.  Dungeon Fighter features a plethora of quirky NPC’s handing out quests and tasks (thousands, according to the official website) to further the storyline.  And as with all Nexon titles, there’s plenty of room for character customizations, weapons, armor, and new duds, at a price of course.

Again, as with all modern day online gaming experiences, Dungeon Fighter Online features an integrated chat and messaging system.  Party quests and dungeons are also thrown into the mix.  In game communication may also be used to trade and auction items.

Item equipping is limited to ten gear slots, with some limited to class, and naturally, level (what, no twinks allowed?).  Raid, or Party play features up to three other Dungeon Fighter Online players, and a PvP system is included for those wishing to fighter other players instead of the game itself.  Rounding out the ‘must haves’ in a modern online RPG, Dungeon Fighter Online includes a guild system.

In the increasingly crowded online space of free-to-play fantasy MMORPG’s, there’s nothing about Nexon’s newest effort that really makes me stand up and cheer.  Dungeon Fighter Online seems to have all the necessities, but again, nothing really outstanding that makes me think, ‘Oooo…I need to get on this one’!  I think what’s made Combat Arms a true success is that it is in fact different from the vast majority of free-to-play titles out there, both in concept and style, as well as the level of quality.  Who knows, I could be way off the mark on this, as I’ve not yet received my beta code, and this is after all, Nexon we’re talking about here, so hopefully there’s a wonderful surprise waiting for me that I haven’t quite found yet.

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Free to play big guns slated for Austin GDC.

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

The GDC Austin, held from September 15th – 18th at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, recently announced its initial set of speakers and conferences, at it appears as though free-to-play is going to be a dominant theme this year.  Sony Online with Free Realms, Gaia Online, and Neowiz with Crossfire are all on tap for the coming conference.

Austin GDC 2009This year’s conference includes six online-centric ‘tracks’ for the Main Conference.  Tracks are focused on business and marketing, design, social networking and community, services, production, and programming, and include a number of free-to-play, microtransactions powered talks, including one from fatfoogoo client, Rebel Monkey’s CTO Jeffery Kesselman.

Initial highlights from the GDC Austin include:

  • Erik Bethke, VP Product Development, Neowiz Games is expected to present “Metrics and Monetization – Case Study of a Million Concurrent Players” whereby publishers and operators can tighten up their understanding of metrics used to derive decisions made for online games.  Likewise, these metrics play a crucial role in determining how best to monetize publiser’s online assests.
  • Craig Sherman, CEO of Gaia Online will be presenting “Next Phase of Casual Games: How to Make the Free-To-Play Model Work for You”.  Sherman will present the benefits of an online gaming model, how the model is working around the world, specifically comparing free-to-play in the U.S. vs. Asian market, why the model is a big hit with game devs, and perhaps most importantly, how to remain profitable with a f2p title and the future of the gaming landscape.
  • Rebel Monkey’s Chief Technology Officer, Jeffery Kesselman will be presenting “The Monkey Wrench: Design and Architecture of an Online Environment”.  Kesselman will lay out how Rebel Monkey successfully combined open source technologies, to formulate Monkey Wrench, the platform currently powering CampFu.  He’ll focus on design and architecture elements, but will also share lessons learned during the implementation process.
  • Massive social games company Zynga will be represented by Brandon Barber, VP of Marketing when he delivers his talk, “What Are The Stickiest Design Models and How Are They Monetized?”  He plans to illustrate to attendees just how that can navigate the rapidly changing state of play, retain and audience, and make some coin while they’re at it.  Barber will also highlight how “Microtransactions within the game itself, such as the purchase of virtual goods are the most viable form of revenue.”

Again, this is just the first round of announcements that will undoubtedly be released over the coming weeks.  However, it is particularly interesting to note that the GDC Austin did not choose any other topic to entice potential attendees in.

If these six tracks weren’t enough to wet your appetite, don’t forget that the GDC Austin also features the Game Audio and Game Writer Summits, as well as the Independent Games Summit, AND the brand spankin’ new iPhone Game Summit.

Everything’s bigger in Texas.

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Challenge: Define Casual

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Casual gaming, and it’s associated casual gamers have been getting quite a decent amount of press lately, and industry reports have the genre skyrocketing.  And while I’m certainly all for the rise of anything games, there’s one thing that’s been on my mind for a while now; who exactly are casual gamers?

An excerpt from the Wikipedia definition of a casual gamer reads,

“Casual gamer is a loosely defined term used to describe a type of video game player whose time or interest in playing games is limited compared with a hardcore gamer. Casual gamers can conceivably consist of any people who show more than a passing interest in video games, therefore it is difficult to categorize them as a group. For this reason, games which attempt to appeal to the casual player tend to strive for simple rules and ease of game play, the goal being to present a pick-up-and-play experience that people from any age group or skill level could enjoy.”

The key phrase in this entire passage is “difficult to categorize them as a group.”  This got me to thinking about just who casual gamers really are?  Does this mean, if I’m not a hardcore gamer that I’m a casual gamer?  Do I have to be hardcore to not be casual?  Or rather, is ‘casual gamer’ now a generic industry term for those that do not spend an average of 5+ hours per day wading through their favorite title?  And furthermore, what ever happened to just ‘gamer’?

If the term casual gamer has entered the gamescape vernacular as a blanket term covering all non-hardcore gamers, isn’t that just too broad a market to lump into one basket?

For example, let’s take one certain friend, we’ll call him Tim, who’s in his late 50’s and an avid golfer.  By Tim’s admission, he says that he has in fact played video games in the past, testing to make sure that the Atari 2600 he bought his son back in the 1980’s was working correctly on Christmas morning.  Other than that, nadda. After introducing him to wii sports one Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t get Tim off the golf, and naturally, started fearing for all glass objects in the room.  Tim spent about an hour and a half working his way through wii golf, and said that he had a great time.  That was about a year ago.  Having spoken to him just yesterday, he confirms that he hasn’t touched a console, or any other type of game for that matter, since.  Does Tim qualify as a casual gamer?  And yes…he’s on facebook, and no, he’s not playing ‘Pet Society’.

Stepping things up a bit, another friend, let’s call him Steve, does not own a console, but does some gaming on his PC.  I’ve never seen him play one single ‘casual game’, but rather he downloads demos, shareware, or freebies, with the intent of never actually converting to a paying customer.  When asked about free-to-play, browser based games, Steve simply says, “I just want to play a game, and not be bothered playing with other people, it’s just me versus the machine.”

I truly believe the examples of Tim and Steve to be the much larger majority of folks out there.  They may technically be qualified as ‘casual’ gamers, but they’ve never spent a dime on the industry.  And all the while, both the press and industry figures both agree, ‘casual gaming’ is exploding.  If we’re judging the genre as a whole as successful by the revenue numbers alone, isn’t there something to be said for those that may fall into this unclassifiable category ‘casual gamer’, and better yet, how can the industry as a whole address these folks?  If the adulation is coming from a body count alone, then aren’t these numbers, by default, overinflated?  Do ‘one timers’ and ‘never gonna pay’ people count in this category?

I believe if the ‘casual’ gaming industry is to maintain, justify, and further it’s efforts, it’s time that a few of them sit down and take a good look at just who the ‘typical’ casual gaming demographic is, before we’ve added so much broth to the soup that the chicken gets lost somewhere between the carrots and celery.

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Turbine releases DDO in-game item shop screenshots

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Late last week, Turbine released a series of screenshots of the upcoming microtransaction based in-game item shop, revealing information about look, feel, and of course, pricing points.

From the screenshots, one can gather that the cash shop will feature eight different types of virtual items for sale; Premium Items, XP and Loot boosts, Hirelings, Spells and Potions, Healing, Level & Stats Boosts, Cosmetics, and Conveniences.  While these offerings are varied, most, if not all of them should not come as a surprise, as this is just about in line with what a number of other free-to-play shops are offering.

Obviously, the ‘one to watch’ here is the Premium Items category, as without a doubt, this will be Turbine’s real moneymaker.  It’s here where users have access to purchasing additional in-game content including maps, quest lines, and perhaps most importantly, new dungeons (after all, Dungeons should be an essential part to Dungeons & Dragons, no?).

From what I could garner from the screeners, price points range anywhere from 900 Turbine points, right on down to the 150 mark.  For around 900 Turbine points, users can purchase said new in-game content and quest lines.  “The Ruins of Gianthold” for example, sells for 900 points, and is a Level 13-14 question series with 10 adventures and 45 quests.  Also interesting to note is that lower level quest lines are priced lower, suggesting that top level content will cost a bit more.  “The Demon Sands” is a level 10-12 quest series with 10 adventures, 56 wilderness quests & a Raid.

Flipping a bit more through the screenshots, one can see that Turbine’s set some rather reasonable prices, at least in terms of comparison with other items within the store.  For example, additional character slots are a relatively low 300 points, while items that would be purchased again and again, such as Healing, resurrection,  and XP boosting items line up in the 60 – 90 points range.  Obviously, at this point, no one but the folks at Turbine know the exact currency conversions, but again, if you look at the value and amount of content delivered by quest lines, maps, and dungeons vs. the healing, resurrection, and XP boosts, pricing points seem to be reasonable.

As previously mentioned, DDO from Turbine will be going the hybrid model, offering, but not mandating a subscription based alternative to the free-to-play model.  Subscription folks will receive a set monthly allowance to make purchases from the in-game store, and will most probably have the option of purchasing additional credits, should they blow right through their allowance.

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This week at Electronic Arts – more action than Medal of Honor

Friday, June 19th, 2009

To say that there were just a few things happening at EA this week would be just shy of an understatement.  Not only did now former COO John Pleasants more or less lay out EA’s plan to get back to the top of the gaming heap, but they’ve also stepped things up a bit by publicly posting a job ad for a “User Experience Designer”.  Oh, and shortly after Pleasants’ interview (literally his last day), he left EA to become the new CEO of Playdom.  Right.  Let’s get started.

john_pleasantsOn Wednesday, paidContent.org ran a very informative and interesting interview between reporter Tameka Kee and at the time EA COO John Pleasants.  Kee’s interview focuses mainly on what EA’s up to in regards to the strong push to an online component to their latest games, citing The Sims 3 as a prime example.  Pleasants admits that EA is, “…creating a live service across a portfolio of titles, with some social aspects and a variety of business models, including micro-transactions and subscriptions.”

Speaking to the social aspect of gaming Pleasants gives a strong nod to free-to-play/microtransaction supported gaming studios such as Playfish and Zynga, and states, “we’re in investment mode, and we’ll be announcing deals with companies that will be of note sometime in the near future.”  To this end, it’s also come to the light of day (although nearly half a month old now), that EA recently posted a job listing for a “User Experience Designer” that can “lead the design and prototyping of applications for online games, community features and e-commerce transactions” for a “new social gaming platform.”  Read: we need someone with experience in building social networks, communities AND has microtransaction experience.  To be honest, that sounds more like three jobs in one, but then again, I’m no staffing director.  This new developer would be ‘the man’ to drive the reigns at EA’s Ontario, Canada based Waterloo studio.  Looks like Margaret Wallace’s predictions on some of the old school giants investing in social gaming is right on the money.

Ok, fine and dandy, the world at EA is looking bright and shiny.

But hold the phone – what what?  John Pleasants has been named the CEO of Playdom.  Say wha now?

They say hindsight is 20/20, but if you read the interview that Pleasants did with Dean Takahashi from VentureBeat with this knowledge now in hand, you might be able to detect just a splash of animosity tossed in there.  Such statements such as, “Yeah, he tells me what to do and I do it.” In regards to his working relationship with CEO John Riccitiello, and “I don’t want to sound like I’m countering my boss. But I think quality is an overused word for a dynamic equation.  Trends are changing. You have to have quality, following the right trends. You have to make quality stuff, but it can’t be in a category that is disappearing or becoming a niche. John has been vocal about saying that our marketing didn’t work well. We didn’t manufacture hits. To make a hit, you have to both make the right thing through high product quality and also hit the market in the right way.”  Sir, it not only sounds like, but in fact, is, a direct counter to your bosses’ statements.

Perhaps there is in fact no bad blood going on here, but you’ve got to admit, the timing and the nuanced phrases are remarkably suspect.  With Playdom reporting numbers close to $10 million per quarter via microtransaction sales, it looks like Pleasants just made quite a wise move.  His departure only hails a continued mass exodus of top EA execs, but then again, former EA exec, John Schappert who left to go work with microsoft, is now heading back to NoCal to replace Pleasants.  Need a road map by now?  Me too.

While EA’s clearly trying to head in the right direction with casual gaming, social networking, and microtransactions, the question remains,can the behemoth get it together in time and can they really deliver what we want, before we know we want it?

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eRepublik lands a cool $2.8 million for new type of Virtual World

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

In a further show of support for blossoming virtual worlds, Madrid, Spain based eRepublik has recently announced that they’ve secured €2 million (approx. $2.8 million) in Series A funding from AGF Private Equity.  Coining a new term, and dubbing themselves a MOSS (massive online social strategy game), eRepublik had previously secured just over $1 million from the VC firm as well as multiple angel investors.  This new injection brings the total up to $3.8 million.  Not bad for a small company for only about a year and a half and staffs just 30 employees.

erepubliklogoThe MOSS is a browser based virtual world that closely mimics today’s real world.  Additionally, this virtual world contains no A.I., and relies solely on the participation of players (called appropriately, citizens).  Somewhat like, but also different from Second Life, eRepublik allows citizens to participate in politics, the economy, set up businesses (currently at 17,502), interact socially with other citizens, and just to spice things up a bit: engage in wars with other countries (citizens live in eUSA, or eCanada, for example).

Live for only 576 days, eRepublik reports that the MOSS has over 350,000 citizen accounts, with 120,000 of them regularly logging in and participating in the active community.  Taking a look at the traffic numbers, eRepublik is reporting that they’ve received over 3.7 million visits in the month of May alone, generating 95 million page views.  Citizens have arrived from over 200 countries worldwide, and spent over 55 million minutes within the world.

eRepublik’s co-founder and CEO Alexis Bonte says that this new injection of fresh funds will be put towards fleshing out the existing world, as he says the current eRepublik is only 25% of what’s planned.  They’ll also continue to expand eRepublik’s language offerings, as they just released a Spanish speaking version earlier this month, and move ahead with launching a host of new games.

eRepublik is free to play, and monetizes via sales of their in-game currency, eRepublik Gold.  While no mentions were made about expanding out virtual goods offerings, something tells me that a bit of the $2.8 m has already been earmarked to ramp things up in the in-game store.

Hear what eRepublik is all about directly from Alexis Bonte in his TechCrunch pitch from last summer.

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fatfoogoo Powers mEgo’s New Virtual Goods Storefront

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

fatfoogoo’s Microtransaction Ecosystem Bolsters mEgo’s Avatar Engine,
Tapping into the Rapidly Growing and Lucrative Virtual Goods Market

fatfoogoo, the leading provider of in-game and online commerce ecosystems, today announced it is powering mEgo’s smart virtual goods marketplace, where users can style, animate and accessorize their online personal profile. mEgo is a first-of-its-kind, portable multimedia profile aggregator designed to manage and integrate one’s online identity into a highly personalized avatar through a patent pending user interface.  More than 1.25 million mEgos are currently found on more than 650 social networks, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr.  With added customization and content purchase abilities made possible by fatfoogoo’s commerce technology, mEgo is participating in the highly lucrative market for virtual goods. Already part of a growing trend, the Gartner Group predicts that in 2011, more than 80% of active Internet users will have an avatar.

mego_logo_rasterWith fatfoogoo’s commerce system, mEgo users can purchase a vast number of virtual goods – such as clothes, accessories, background displays, animations and featured content – available in the storefront on mEgo.com or its integrated websites.  The smart storefront allows users to dress by brand, theme, price-point, popularity, auction and rarity.  Through the mEgo user interface, consumers click on the virtual good on the avatar to learn more about the item and click-through to purchase the real-world item.

fatfoogoo is the leading monetization software provider handling microtransactions, subscriptions, virtual currencies, e-wallets, goods trading and more. Its core competencies matched mEgo’s needs – supporting global online transactions with expertise in telecom, an area of growth for mEgo. mEgo and its new virtual goods marketplace will soon be available on mobile devices, including the iPhone, as well on IM services.

“The immense undertaking in managing mEgo’s storefront filled with limitless items, global currency exchange and staying true to a particular brand was easily accomplished with fatfoogoo’s commerce platform,” said Martin Herdina, co-founder and CEO, fatfoogoo. “As the virtual goods industry rapidly expands beyond virtual worlds to casual and hardcore games, online stores and social networks like mEgo, companies depend on our technology and experience to increase the key factors for success – low fraud rate, global economic management and shortened development time. It literally pays to outsource commerce needs.”

By outsourcing the marketplace to fatfoogoo, mEgo was able to quickly have a robust virtual goods offering.  More importantly, with fatfoogoo’s technology and best practices, mEgo can rely on low fraud rates and international monetary compliance.

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“We are very excited to work with fatfoogoo and provide our users with a proven and tangible global commerce solution,” said Ariel McNichol, mEgo co-founder and co-CEO.  “Tapping into fatfoogoo’s e-commerce platform, our virtual goods storefront has come to market six months to a year sooner than if we had to build the system ourselves – a win-win for everyone.”

As the company solves the problem of having to create and maintain different profiles on multiple social networks and sites, it keeps its leading edge with the launch of its new online storefront and additional avatar functionality. mEgo is currently developing a contextual suggestion feature that will tap into profile data to offer users relevant utilities, content and products.

In recent news, fatfoogoo announced its partnership with Digital River. Combined, the two companies will provide on-demand e-commerce and in-game commerce for publishers on a global scale. Additionally, fatfoogoo is the exclusive provider of in-game commerce for Rebel Monkey’s virtual world, CampFu, now with more than 100,000 players. Its white-label commerce system is a custom turnkey solution for publishers and developers that want to enhance the online experience for gamers or online users in any industry.

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