Retention and Revenue: The power of a seamless payment experience

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Retention and Revenue: The power of a seamless payment experience

October 15, 2024

Player retention and monetization are the two most significant aspects of keeping a game successful and sustainable. To maintain an active player community, studios must continue to provide engaging user experiences while striking a balance that promotes in-app purchase spending. The 2024 Mobile Growth and Monetization Report conducted by Unity highlighted the difficulty of turning players into repeat spenders, finding that only 1.83% of mobile gamers make in-app purchases. Of that population, the window for repeat spending is small, with only 28.1% making a second purchase within the first 30 days, 1.37% after day 31, and only .46% after day 60. The payment experience often contributes to players leaving games and not making purchases. From a complicated payment flow to a lack of payment options, players may abandon a cart or the game entirely if the purchasing process is too complex. As video game commerce leaders, Xsolla's advanced payment solutions offer game developers a seamless, secure, and flexible payment process designed to maximize player retention while adapting to your player's evolving needs across platforms. The rest of this article will explore why player retention is essential, how the payment experience impacts it, and how Xsolla's payment solutions offer the best approach in today's competitive gaming market.

A crash course in player retention

Unlike user acquisition, retention is a long-term strategy that ensures continued growth. While attracting new users is important, the rising costs of acquiring players make fostering your current players a more cost-effective approach to your game's longevity. Retaining your players and converting them into spenders can increase revenue, improve LTV, and maximize ROI. With a healthy gaming community, you can create more targeted User Acquisition (UA) campaigns, ultimately contributing to your game's continued sustainability. Retention challenges facing developers To effectively combat low player retention, developers must understand their root causes. The most common factors contributing to player drop-off include poor user experiences during onboarding, gameplay, and purchasing. Complicated incentive programs or too many barriers causing interruptions during sessions can also lead to players exiting your game. It's your job as a developer to employ retention strategies across all aspects of your game, from development to post-launch. From making sure your gameplay remains challenging and exciting to players to monitoring gameplay for the right moment to deploy ads or other rewards, acknowledging early on that retention is crucial and complex is half the battle. A positive purchasing experience = higher retention rates One of the most effective retention strategies for improving retention and increasing monetization is providing players with a seamless purchasing experience. First, encourage your players to invest in your game and stay engaged through rewards, loyalty programs, virtual currencies, and other in-game purchases that provide a more robust experience. When your players are ready to purchase, give them an equally enjoyable checkout experience. A reliable checkout experience should include the following for your players:

A straightforward login process, making first-time purchasers comfortable
A wide range of payment options so players can choose their preferred payment methods and reduce cart abandonment
A frictionless experience to reduce gameplay interruptions and unnecessary redirects
Secure and safe transactions so players feel confident their payment information is being handled appropriately

Xsolla Payments, a retention strategy

As a Merchant of Record, Xsolla is no stranger to partnering with game developers to sell goods and accept payments easily. Xsolla Payments is our solution to improving not only the checkout experience for your players but also handling all aspects of tax compliance for your company. As an international entity, Xsolla makes it simpler for your players to make purchases in your game, regardless of where they live. Provide your players with a seamless and secure payment experience, increasing their likelihood of becoming repeat customers and improving engagement. With Xsolla Payments, provide a

Seamless payment experience: Xsolla streamlines transactions, reducing friction and encouraging repeat purchases, boosting player retention.
Flexibility and global availability: Xsolla supports 700+ payment methods in over 200+ geographies, helping developers reach a global audience and eliminate payment barriers.
Security and trust: Xsolla's strong anti-fraud measures and regulatory compliance ensure secure, trustworthy payments, fostering player confidence.
Customization, localization, and personalization: Developers can tailor Xsolla's payment options to align with the game's style in their player's regions, thus enhancing player engagement.
Mobile optimization for emerging markets: Xsolla's mobile-friendly solutions support growth in the mobile gaming sector and emerging markets, minimizing payment barriers.
Reduce cart abandonment: Xsolla's frictionless payment flow lowers cart abandonment, increasing the chances of completed purchases and repeat business.

With Xsolla's range of tools and tailored payment solutions, you can create a seamless checkout that keeps your players engaged and returning for more. If you want a curated payments strategy for your game, contact an Xsolla expert or create a Publisher Account to get started.