Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Jim Daly
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The Bitcoin virtual currency continued its march toward the payments mainstream with the recent announcement by online game developer Zynga Inc. that it would test Bitcoin acceptance with some of its popular games.
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San Francisco-based Zynga is working with BitPay Inc., a payment service provider for virtual currencies, to bring Bitcoin usage to its players for purchases of tools, weapons or other digital items they need to play a game. Zynga announced the development in a weekend post on the Reddit online news site.
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“In response to Bitcoin’s rise in popularity around the world, Zynga, with help from BitPay, is testing expanded payment options for players to make in-game purchases using Bitcoin,” the post says. “Zynga is always working to improve our customer experience by incorporating player feedback into our games. We look forward to hearing from our players about the Bitcoin test so we can continue in our efforts to provide the best possible gaming experience.”
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Zynga, which had an IPO in December 2011, has struggled to find paying players and move beyond its heavy dependence on Facebook for its player pool, and to keep up with rapidly changing consumer tastes. It’s moving into mobile-based games, and adding more payment options is yet another tactic to attract new users, according to researcher Beth Robertson, managing director of Baltimore-based Robertson Payments LLC.
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Zynga already has an in-house virtual currency called zCoins, Robertson notes. “[ZCoins] has been game-centric, and I think the idea is to essentially foster some growth outside the specific [gamer] community that not only will it bring some new users, but it also brings a new outlet for a virtual currency like Bitcoin,” she says.
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Player usage of Bitcoin might increase demand for the virtual currency enough to push out the private-label virtual currency, much the way eBay Inc. buyers and sellers more than a decade ago wanted to continue using PayPal even though eBay had its own payment option called Billpoint, which it bought in 1999, Robertson says. “They were trying so hard to promote Billpoint and make Billpoint number one, but the consumers wanted to use PayPal,” she says. That demand led to eBay acquiring PayPal in 2002 and Billpoint’s demise shortly thereafter.
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The Bitcoin test is available to Zynga.com players playing FarmVille 2, CastleVille, ChefVille, CoasterVille, Hidden Chronicles, Hidden Shadows and CityVille, the company said.
