Downloadable Content Just Got Easier

Digital River and Playxpert on Monday announced a partnership to bring e-commerce in-game.

And this isn’t just the typical downloadable content specific to the game being played. E-commerce company Digital River will be including a one-stop shop of sorts in Playxpert's in-game toolbar.

Playxpert’s nifty widget allows gamers access to features such as a web browser, universal messaging service, and music player without having to alt-tab out of the game. Digital River hopes to help publishers capitalize on this convenience by offering an extra icon on the toolbar, which would open up an in-game storefront.

“This is actually bringing merchandising opportunities to the community front,” Playxpert CEO Charles Manning said. “[The toolbar] allows users to see what games their friends have and what games they’re playing.”

He said the partnership with Digital River will open up the toolbar to allow gamers to buy other games in addition to the standard downloadable content and microtransactions. This allows players to look at what friends are playing and interested in, enabling purchases of games without having to leave a game.

While the toolbar is just an optional widget that gamers can download, the companies see this as another push on the digital distribution front.

“Business is evolving in terms of business models,” said Jeff Hemenway, Group Vice President of Games for Digital River. “In order to help our customers drive their revenues, we have to come up with new ways to reach out to gamers.”

Publishers can take charge to reach out to gamers as well. The toolbar, which can also be used outside of a game on a person’s desktop, can be re-skinned into a branded storefront.

From here, publishers can also create custom widgets to add to it. Users have already created widgets for applications such as Gmail and Pandora which can be launched in-game.

The toolbar is available for download from Playxpert’s web site.

via Red Herring