BWI: PlaySpan Hosts Second Annual Monetization 2.0 Forum, Leads Discussion on New Monetization Models for Online Games, Social Networks, and Virtual Worlds

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: PlaySpan India Pvt Ltd
Friday, February 05, 2010 12:00 PM IST (06:30 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Entertainment; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Banking & financial services, Business services, Information technology, Media & entertainment; Technology
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PlaySpan Hosts Second Annual Monetization 2.0 Forum, Leads Discussion on New Monetization Models for Online Games, Social Networks, and Virtual Worlds


Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Friday, February 05, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- PlaySpan, the global leader in monetization solutions for online games, virtual worlds, and social networks, today announced its second annual Monetization 2.0 Forum to be held June 3, 2010 in San Francisco. The PlaySpan Forum will join some of the most respected industry thought leaders together to discuss the present and future monetization opportunities utilizing Micro-transactions, Digital Goods, and Virtual Economies business models.

The Forum follows PlaySpan's highly successful Monetization 2.0 Forum held last year at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Austin, which drew a standing-room only crowd of more than 225 senior executives from the interactive entertainment industry, and executive-level speakers from companies such as Adobe, EA, IMVU, K2 Network/GamersFirst, Linden lab/ Second Life, MySpace, PayPal, Playdom, Playfish, Turbine, and Zynga.

"The move toward a microtransactions-based or hybrid business model is not an easy process, and there are many considerations before deciding on an option that works best for a specific game or genre. PlaySpan's first Monetization Forum showcased the challenges and opportunities within this rapidly evolving industry and proved valuable for companies facing the complexity of these issues," said Craig Alexander, VP of Product Development at Turbine, Inc.

"The Monetization 2.0 forum organized by PlaySpan was an excellent example of how to inform an audience about key industry information delivered by an impressive set of speakers," said Lars Koschin, CEO, Frogster America "Runes of Magic."

"This Forum will build upon last year's success and tackle some of the toughest questions surrounding online game and digital media monetization," said Karl Mehta, Founder & CEO of PlaySpan Inc. "Based on the popularity of last year's show and the positive feedback we received from its attendees, we expect another great turnout and look forward to working with an exceptional roster of industry luminaries who are willing to share their knowledge in order to help other developers and publishers take their games and online media to the next level."

"The Monetization 2.0 Forum brought into the open a lot of great topics that everyone was thinking about, but not sure how to get started actually talking about it. Having the forum fostered a sense of cooperation that will definitely yield some amazing results in the coming months and years. I definitely look forward to future events and furthering the dialogue as an industry on monetization," said Daniel Chang, NHN USA.

PlaySpan's second annual Forum is an industry-focused event designed to tackle the most pressing issues surrounding social and online game monetization. The format will cover some of the most successful strategies from leading companies in the industry, with a focus on emerging trends, what's new to the landscape and best practices from real-world implementations. The Forum will also feature insightful panel discussions, case studies, and lively demos, so attendees can take away critical insights needed to achieve success in the marketplace.

Save the date, June 3, 2010, and for more information contact Eric Hartness, eric.hartness@playspan.com

About PlaySpan Inc.

PlaySpanT is the global leader in monetization solutions for over 1,000 online games, virtual worlds, and social networks. PlaySpan's patent-pending in-game digital goods commerce and micropayment platform enables game publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users, and extend the loyalty of existing users.

PlaySpan also offers global payment solutions through its subsidiary PayByCash® with 85 payment methods in 180 countries. The ULTIMATE GAME CARD® is used by consumers to pay for 300 multiplayer games and around 700 games on popular social networking sites. It is available in about 45,000 retail locations across North America and growing rapidly worldwide.

Social network payment solutions are available through Spare Change©. Acquired by PlaySpan in April 2009, Spare Change is the first and leading payments platform designed specifically for social networks. Featured on over 700 applications, across Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo, Spare Change empowers developers to successfully monetize their applications through micro payments. The Spare Change platform enables users to make safe, convenient, and friendly 1-click purchases through a variety of funding sources.

PlaySpan is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Charlottesville, Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mumbai. Investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures. The company won the 2009 OnHollywood Category Award for Best Gaming Company.

For more information about PlaySpan, visit: http://corp.playspan.com
For more information about Spare Change, visit: www.sparechangepayments.com


CONTACT DETAILS
Vinayak Rao, PlaySpan India Pvt Ltd, +91 9820045958, Vinayak.rao@playspan.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENTERTAINMENT, MARKETING, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY

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