NEOVIA diversifies into MMOG market
16 June 2009 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMNEO
RNS Number : 9338T
Neovia Financial PLC
16 June 2009
Press release
For immediate release
NEOVIA Financial Enters Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming (MMOG) Market and
Secures Contract Win with MindArk's Entropia Universe
Worldwide Online Payment Solutions Support Operators and Players with the Secure
Flow of Real Money Trade
Tuesday 16th June 2009 - NEOVIA Financial Plc (LSE: NEO), the independent global
online payments business, announces the launch of its services for the Massively
Multiplayer Online Gaming (MMOG) market by providing a secure global payment
solution that supports real world trading for virtual products and services. As
part of this initiative NEOVIA also confirms a recent contract win with leading
MMOG publisher MindArk, operator of the leading virtual world Entropia Universe.
The real money trading on and around MMOG sites represents a multi-billion
dollar global market. It is estimated users'
spend on such MMOG sites will increase to $9bn1, including subscriptions,
virtual land, retail products and services by 20102. Games Investor Consulting,
an industry analyst, has predicted the micropayments market for multiplayer
role-playing games will grow by 40% to 50% in 2009.3
To manage the flow of this money between the operator, retailers and players,
the enhanced NEOVIA Payment Suite has a raft of capabilities ideally suited for
the demands of the MMOG market. The products support local deposit options as
well as local languages and currencies for key countries. This means increased
and efficient penetration into emerging territories for MMOG operators,
supporting countries where credit cards have limited use online and non-card
payments types are preferred such as iDEAL in the Netherlands, giropay in
Germany and Carte Bleue in France.
Retailers and operators can rely on NEOVIA for effective fraud control and
anti-money laundering policies, and players benefit by using the NETELLER
e-wallet, part of the NEOVIA Payment Suite, which allows them to spend securely
online without revealing their card details.
Due to small transaction values and high fees, players are not easily liquidate
or transfer their "virtual assets" outside a game, plus virtual assets are
non-transferable as only a few sites offer easy methods to cash-out. To overcome
this, NEOVIA has enhanced its e-wallet micro-payment capabilities to support the
multiplayer/video online gaming industry.
For additional revenue stream generation and cross-selling opportunities, NEOVIA
also offers its Merchant Co-branding Program. This allows operators and
merchants to acquire new, extend value from active, or reactivate dormant
customers. It provides conversion-landing pages, co-branded e-wallets and
targeted special offers.
Jan Welter Timkrans, CEO of MindArk, said: "NEOVIA's payment solutions will help
enhance and expand Entropia Universe as the leading virtual platform for
entertainment, commerce and avatar development. The enhanced NEOVIA Payment
Suite will enable our users to develop and extend their e-commerce activities
within Entropia Universe."
Dan Starr, Executive Vice President, NEOVIA said: "With this significant new
version we believe we are offering the broadest and best global Payment Suite on
the market. NEOVIA is ideally suited to support these types of payments and the
MMOG market. We have proven ability to support online merchants and because our
NETELLER e-wallet can be used with thousands of entertainment and retail sites,
players can take their money and spend it elsewhere. We look forward to working
with MindArk and further developing our relationship with additional product
enhancements for Entropia Universe."
For further information contact:
NEOVIA Financial Plc
Andrew Gilchrist - VP Communications
+ 44 (0) 1624 698 713
Email:investorrelations@neovia.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/neovia
Media Relations
Nick Daines / Sheelagh Connelly, McEntegart Marketing
+ 44 (0) 207 617 7019
Email: neovia@mmcomms.uk.com
About NEOVIA Financial
Trusted by consumers and merchants in over 160 countries to move and manage
billions of dollars each year, NEOVIA Financial Plc (formerly NETELLER Plc)
operates the world's leading independent online payments business. Through the
NEOVIA Payment Suite(TM), featuring NETELLER , NETBANX , Net+(TM) and 1-PAY(TM)
brands, NEOVIA Financial specialises in providing innovative and instant payment
services where money transfer is difficult or risky due to identity, trust,
currency exchange, or distance. Being independent has allowed the company to
support thousands of retailers and merchants in many geographies and across
multiple industries.
NEOVIA Financial Plc quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market, with a
ticker symbol of NEO. Subsidiary company NETELLER (UK) Ltd is authorised by the
Financial Services Authority (FSA) to operate as a regulated e-money issuer. For
more information about NEOVIA Financial visit www.neovia.com or contact us by
email at investorrelations@neovia.com.
About MindArk and Entropia Universe
Entropia Universe is an expanding entity of interoperable 3D virtual worlds
based on the proprietary Entropia Platform. Each virtual world takes the form of
a planet(s) within the virtual Entropia Universe.
The Entropia Universe Platform contains full support for secure
micro-transactions in real-time, rich media viewing, transactions with real and
virtual items, MMOG entertainment and social interaction between global
participants. Its virtual currency, the PED, has a fixed exchange rate of 10:1
with the US dollar.
The Entropia Universe Platform has been developed for over 10 years at a cost of
over $40m. Commercially launched in 2003, MindArk's planet Calypso has been
generating profit since 2004 and has served as a vehicle for fine-tuning the
platform's business model and functionality. During 2007, the Entropia Universe
Platform provided a secure and stable means for $400m of user-to-user
transactions. It has today over 820,000 registered accounts from over 200
territories.
The Entropia Universe Platform offers a complete solution for virtual planet
creation and maintenance, and for premium content production. For more
information, please visit www.mindark.com and www.entropiauniverse.com.
Sources:
1 Charles River Ventures
2 TowerGroup Research (subsidiary of MasterCard Worldwide)
3 GamesInvestor Consulting
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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