NetEase Games, the online games division of NetEase Inc., is a leading global developer and publisher of video game IP across a variety of genres and platforms.
Its development and publishing titles include the popular Marvel Rivals, Knives Out, and Naraka: Bladepoint. NetEase Games also has numerous partnerships and tie-up with major entertainment brands such as Microsoft, Warner Bros and Mojang AB (a Microsoft subsidiary). Committed to produce high quality games for gamers worldwide, NetEase Games supports the growth and development of its innovative studios in Canada, Europe, Japan and the United States.
The partnership between NetEase Games and Antom began in 2022, to provide more seamless payments to gamers everywhere around the world. In 2024, we expanded the relationship with a fuller payment offering in Japan, one of the world’s largest gaming markets. So, gamers can pay using diverse payments options from mobile wallets, including Paypay, to cards and konbini payments (over-the-counter convenience store payments).
“The game world is like a parallel world, so it’s important to bridge gamers’ behaviours online and offline for that immersive experience. The payments experience is a starting point. Our A+ Rewards marketing solution helps NetEase Games and many leading brands do that – linking the inside-game and outside-game payments and experience,” said Susan Chen, Head of Key Accounts, CN, Antom, Ant International.
How is NetEase Games working with Antom to shape tomorrow’s gaming payments? Catch the conversation between Livia Ang, Global Business Development Director, NetEase Games and Susan Chen, Head of Key Accounts, CN, Antom to find out now. The session is hosted by Paul Tunstall, VP, International of the Merchant Advisory Group (MAG).
Watch the video
Transcript
Livia:
We also work very closely with our payment service providers like Antom to understand the user journey for each of the payment methods so that we can remove as much friction as possible during the checkout process.
Paul:
My name is Paul Tunstall, I'm the Vice President of International for the Merchant Advisory Group. Today we're joined by Livia, Global Business Development Director from NetEase Games, and also Susan, who is Head of China Key Accounts from Antom, Ant International.
Today we're going to talk about shaping tomorrow's gaming payments.
NetEase Games is the online games division of NetEase Inc. They're a leading global developer of publishing video games, IP across a variety of genres and platforms.
Within the relationship between NetEase Games and Antom, which has been present since 2022, they're making payments more seamless and gaming more enjoyable for gamers everywhere across the globe.
In terms of gaming, it involves real-time, high engagement environments where everybody across the globe wants a seamless, quick transaction. They want to have that a user experience that doesn't impact the retention. So unlike many other verticals, the expectation for instant gratification is non-negotiable because they're either topping up, they're unlocking, or potentially they want to subscribe without delays.
You want to deliver that smooth universal experience all across the globe. You've got to have that deep localisation. You've got to have robust fraud prevention and adaptability within your technology as well.
Paul:
Within the challenge is also the opportunity. It lies in meeting the players’ or the gamers' needs. It's without compromising speed, security, or immersion. Where the expectations vary across regions, how do you cater for the most delightful experience for your gamers?
Livia:
Thank you, Paul. So first and foremost, NetEase Games is committed to producing high quality games to a global audience. And this is across, you know, a variety of genres and platforms. So, depending on where our gamers are in the world, they could have a preference for different payment methods, be it digital wallet or paying in-person at convenience stores.
Local payment methods in many markets around the world have gained rapid popularity in recent years. And payment trends around the world are closely linked to consumers' habits and lifestyles.
So Antom has helped us, for example, to enable many popular payment methods in Japan and to continue to deliver relevant payment methods to help us better serve our gamers.
Susan:
First of all, thank you, Livia, for the support and the trust in Antom’s payment platform. It's really an honour to earn your trust to deliver the ultimate payment experience to your global audience.
Especially last year, when we delivered our comprehensive solution for NetEase Games to serve the Japan market, implementing the payment methods that are unique to Japan. Being able to serve one of the world's biggest markets is one of the key business impacts we are proud of.
Susan:
We've been working together in more than eight, including Southeast Asia, six countries, and also Korea and Japan. For all these gamers or the users who are playing NetEase Games, their preferences across the game types and across the regions are all totally different.
When we work together with NetEase, we need to focus on all the different preferences in the details, and we need to, like, customise all the user flows for the gamers across all the regions. So, these are all the efforts we are working together with NetEase Games.
We study the customer behaviours, the user behaviours, and we learn from NetEase Games.
We have conversations like every week, every month, and we improve all the product capabilities we can offer to the users – providing these ultimate payment or gaming experiences to all of them.
Paul:
In terms of your gaming customers, they're often dealing with micro transactions, subscriptions, in-game purchases, which is real-time for them, right?
How do you optimise those payments systems to ensure it meets their needs across multiple devices, but also multiple geographies as well?
Susan:
Actually, there are always improvements we can make for all the payment methods. Even if it's a really traditional payment method. For example, like Japan’s konbini, the very famous convenience store payment method.
We can actually improve by providing more sufficient information in one email or in one page to decrease the action the users need to make during the payment to improve the payment success rate. Actually, we have this practice in different countries and with different payment methods.
Livia:
We do a lot of research into consumer payment habits in the markets that our players are in to ensure that we are providing the relevant payment methods that they prefer.
We also work very closely with our payment service providers like Antom to understand the user journey for each of the payment methods so that we can remove as much friction as possible during the checkout process.
Paul:
I think it'd be interesting for us to discuss some of the payment challenges within the markets, both from a NetEase Games’ perspective, and also from Antom’s. What are your views on the convergence of loyalty between in-game and real-world purchases?
Livia:
Based on the demographics of our players, especially in emerging markets, we need to consider the needs of the unbanked’s preference for local payment methods, including real-time payments and digital wallets.
In regions like Japan and Southeast Asia, there are many local payment methods like digital wallets with loyalty point programmes that are very much preferred by consumers, both for online and also for offline purchases.
Susan:
Catering to payment preferences is key. And Antom supports merchants in over 50 countries and regions and enabling them to connect with consumers in more than 200 markets with the flexibility to accept payments in more than 100 currencies.
Global businesses often face challenges catering to diverse payment methods and payment needs.
Gaming is one such industry. Local payment methods, wallets and cards, these are all important when catering for a global audience. But for loyalty incentive, the payment coverage is just a start, right?
And we need a system to encourage the gamers and to bridge their behaviour offline with online, outside-game and inside-game. Besides all the payment coverage, Antom also has A+ Rewards to bridge the gamers behaviour, offline and online. We've been helping a lot of brands to enhance the user experience when they are out of the game or out of the app.
Paul:
Let’s talk about the next level of fun, right? What role do emerging payments methods like in-game wallets that you just mentioned there, Susan, right, in playing or shaping the future of gaming?
How do you see those payment systems evolving to support the next level of gameplay, for example, in the metaverse or even the virtual environment?
Livia:
Payment systems will follow consumer behaviour and really evolve at the speed of adoption by players and consumers. So in-game wallets are a very good example of how payments can take place across platforms.
Susan:
From my observation, for metaverse and VR games, the trend of players creating content keeps coming into my sight in recent years.
We have a lot of users becoming the owner, the payee becoming the payer. This ecosystem is super important now for all the gaming companies.
The future is about building up the ecosystem and supporting content contributors, and to encourage them to create more interesting content to the games and to make the users get more involved in the games.
So, besides the pay-in, we also need the pay-out and also payment split to help these content contributors benefit from their contribution.
Paul:
If we think about the future, if you look at the customers that's already exploring metaverse, digital goods and immersive commerce, what do the future of payments and future of gaming look like in your opinion?
Susan:
We see more and more different gaming types evolving into a next stage. As a payment partner, we're always focusing on providing more seamless payment experiences to help gamers enjoy the story when they're playing games.
Especially for the younger generation, the metaverse is like a parallel world. It's like a twin world for them to enjoy a totally different life. It's very important they don't feel interrupted when they’re playing games. By providing a seamless payment experience, they can feel safe and trustful, it’s one of the most important goals we are trying to work to with NetEase Games.
Livia:
Well, gaming itself with digital goods and in-game purchasing mechanism is already very much at the forefront of the future of payments.
Paul:
Merchants face a new wave of payment complexities. Monetising virtual economies introduces challenges around fraud prevention, digital identity, chargebacks, regulatory uncertainty come into that, especially transactions that span borders.
They can also blur the lines between real and virtual assets. Ensuring stable, secure and seamless payments in this fast-paced environment is absolutely key. The pace of innovation, although it's thrilling, it does demand a new level of agility. It also needs vigilance from your perspective, especially for a gaming merchant, for you to grow and protect your digital revenue streams. That's a key element.
Livia:
Yes, that's right. And this is why we work with licensed players like Antom who can support us in this highly regulated payments environment, not just in our future payment needs, but also in terms of providing us with innovations.
