UK-based pioneer of in-game donations proclaims successful collaboration with MMPORG Parallel Kingdom.
PlayMob has developed a platform called Giverboard that enables developers to implement micropayments for virtual items, in which at least 50 per cent of the revenue goes to charity.
It's all pretty new, but the most recent partnership was with the game developer behind the MMPORG Parallel Kingdom, PerBlue, for a two week online charitable giving campaign aimed at raising money for SOS Children in Kenya.
Players were given the opportunity to buy Soup Hats that helped to buy a meal for the orphans in Kenya affected by droughts. 830 were bought by players in 28 countries; some of whom purchased 20 plus charitable virtual objects.
A collective of game players even built a virtual city in Marsabit in the Parallel Kingdom game.
PerBlue’s CEO Justin Beck, said: “The partnership between PlayMob and PerBlue has set the bar for virtual giving campaigns. We are so happy with the final results of the initiative, PK has some of the most generous players around, thank you to all who gave”.
Article continues belowAdvertisement
It's very laudable. But is there a sustainable business model?
PlayMob believes there is. ME met the firm's COO Caroline Howes, and she believes the deeper engagement of players that give to charity, and the number of player who make purchases that otherwise wouldn't, are the main draws of its service.
She said: "There are players who simply won't buy virtual items, but they will engage when there is a charitable element to the payment. This can be very helpful to a games developer that wants to build an audience."
Howes also stressed that these players don't just give and then walk away: the platform gives them a view on what's happening to their donation and tracks the progress of projects and the running total for overall giving.
There's also the opportunity for brands to use the platform as a hybrid of product placement and corporate social responsibility.
Add a new comment
You need to be logged in to post comments. If you do not have an account then please register.
Comments
0 comments
There are no comments yet, be the first to add one!