Bless this startup that’s making games redeemable with loyalty points

Singapore-based gaming ecommerce startup, Media Loyal, will officially launch Game On, an app for loyalty program members to redeem mobile and web games, this month.

“Around one third of loyalty points worldwide are being wasted annually, which is a big cost,” said Media Loyal COO, Benoit Sommerlad. “Most of the time, consumers do not accumulate enough points to redeem rewards, especially those that require thousands of points, such as flights.”

He continued saying: “Games, on the other hand, can be redeemed at a much lower cost and, everybody plays them.”

Answering growing needs

According to Benoit, 37, Game On will be available in Malaysia by December. He also added that the startup is in talks with ten loyalty providers—airlines, hotels, telecommunications, and retail companies—across Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States. Game On is expected to hit these markets next year.

Benoit Sommerlad, chief operating officer of Media Loyal, with the Game On website on his laptop.

According to a 2016 report by gaming market research firm, Newzoo, the global games market is projected to reach US$118.60 billion in revenue by 2019. Out of that, US$52.50 billion will be generated by mobile gaming.

Besides tapping on the growing consumer demand for games, Game On gives loyalty providers the opportunity to broaden their redemption program options that are, sometimes, limited to specific industry-related goods.

“A hotel loyalty program will usually give away hotel rooms while an airline loyalty program will give away plane seats, but maybe not [give away] games, books, or food,” said Benoit. “By offering games as redemption rewards, loyalty programs can potentially acquire new members.”

Going far and wide

Media Loyal was co-founded by entrepreneurs Arun Verma and Simran Kaur in April last year, with Benoit joining the company in November.

Since then, the startup has raised over US$147,000 in seed funding from Wavemaker, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, and an undisclosed angel investor. They also received a US$60,000 grant from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore in July this year.

Loyalty providers who’ve partnered with Media Loyal pay the startup according to the number of points their members redeem on the Game On platform. This revenue is then shared between Media Loyal and game developers.

The startup hopes to branch out into offering none gaming-related products for redemption in the future.

Media Loyal currently has an exclusive loyalty partnership with NTUC Link, a subsidiary of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in Singapore.

Over 1.8 million members under NTUC Link’s LinkPoints consumer loyalty program, Plus!, can now redeem games from Game On. This is added on to the existing network of in­store Plus! retail merchants.