EA partners with Live Gamer for microtransactions
Picks Elements platform to "augment its existing ecommerce capabilities"
Publisher Electronic Arts has signed up to use Live Gamer's Elements microtransaction tech in future titles.
This comes hot on the heels of THQ arranging to use Elements in Company of Heroes Online and a number of forthcoming, undisclosed games.
Live Gamer Elements offers support for virtual currency, item storefronts, virtual goods, gifting and analytics. The system is used by 83 million gamers worldwide, and by publishers including Sony Online Entertainment, Funcom and NHN USA.
"We selected Live Gamer due to its unique ecommerce functionality and payment methods which will augment EA’s current ecommerce capabilities," said Dennis Self, EA’s CIO.
"With that, EA is committed to its efforts to enable global online gaming capabilities, and Live Gamer provides us with additional capabilities to do that."
Added Live Gamer president Andrew Schneider, "EA is synonymous with some of the most popular video games of all time. [It] has also embraced and innovated new business models in the game industry since its pioneering efforts in online gaming and now extending to their entrance into social gaming."
EA has yet to reveal which games will use Elements, but has increasingly dabbled in the field of free-to-play – including diverting brands such as Tiger Woods, FIFA, Ultima and Battlefield to it.