Japan’s video games and social gaming market was worth over $8 billion last year, with many of the game buyers coming from across Asia. But where are these gamers shopping?
According to online payment processing firm WorldPay’s white paper1, Video Games Payment Preferences, gamers are slowly shifting away from using debit cards for game purchases towards alternative payment methods.
A recent study conducted by the firm surveyed 7,554 consumers who had purchased video games online, with the intent to better understand the payment landscape and common purchasing frustrations.
The study revealed that 44 percent of mobile game purchases came from South Korea, and 37 percent from India. Of course, mobile games are taking the lead over console-based video games, and Asian consumers are a driving force behind this shift.
Protecting your cards
The most important trend that the study unearthed is the decrease in the use of credit and debit cards to buy games.
Because of concerns over security of personal payment details these worries, e-wallets are now seen as a more secure payment option by consumers, as they don’t require credit cards. Typically, transactions done with e-wallets can happen through mobile phones. A few examples of these are Singapore’s MoGi and Indonesia’s Axis. The study reveals that the emergence of e-wallets has largely driven the increase in overall alternative payment usage globally, in turn driving online video game purchases. Alternative payments now account for 51% of all video game purchases.
China currently tops the list of e-wallet usage among video gamers. 79 percent of Chinese gamers have used an alternative payment method to purchase a video game online in the last 12 months.
It’s unsurprising how e-wallets are enjoying wide adoption in China. Last year, Alipay already had more than 700 million registered accounts, far surpassing Paypal in China. A number of e-wallet startups are also sprouting from various Asian countries. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see this trend develop in other markets with huge video gaming populations.
(Photo: Bottle Rocket Apps)
(Editing by Terence Lee, Steven Millward and Josh Horwitz)
- Note that it’s a study by payment processing firm WorldPay, so this could be rather self-serving. Take the numbers with a pinch of salt.
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