Partnership reveals first results on growth markets Poland and Turkey

AMSTERDAM -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --

GlobalCollect, the world's premier payment service provider of local e-payments, today announced it has extended its partnership with games research firm, Newzoo, to provide fresh data on key emerging and western markets for 2012. As a continuation of the 2011 relationship, GlobalCollect will again sponsor Newzoo's suite of consumer research in 2012, publish unique joint insights and organize webinars centered around the hottest topics in the games industry.

The partnership combines the payment processing and monetization expertise that GlobalCollect has developed servicing the worlds' largest game companies with the consumer insights provided by Newzoo. One of the key objectives of the co-operation is to increase transparency of emerging markets. This is illustrated by the joint effort to profile game preferences and spending behavior of 30 million active internet users in Turkey and 18 million in Poland.

John Snoek, VP Global Marketing for GlobalCollect: "As the pace of change accelerates, game companies must move towards new platforms, payment options and regions to maintain growth. As a trusted payment service provider and advisor, GlobalCollect is investing heavily in data analysis and business intelligence. We provide strategic consultancy for the world's largest gaming companies on local payment and monetization strategies to increase their global revenues. The recent appointment of Mr. Nathan Salisbury as Global Market Director shows our commitment to invest in the gaming industry. Furthermore our collaboration with Newzoo allows us to assist and advise merchants even better in making informed decisions for future growth".

Peter Warman, CEO for Newzoo: "Our research will remain focused on consumers, who ultimately drive the changes in the market. At the same time we realize that detailed insights into local day-to-day spending behavior is crucial to increase ROI. In an ideal world, game companies would have access to both approaches. This is exactly what our co-operation with GlobalCollect is aiming for and I am proud that we will continue to work with the market leader in this field."

First results of the partnership

The first round of 2012 consumer research has recently been concluded. It involved more than 17,000 respondents in several key Western markets as well as Poland and Turkey. The research effort covered more than 200 topics across all game business models and platforms. Poland and Turkey are two growth markets that have appeared on the radar of many game companies over the last couple of years. Annual consumer spending on games has risen above the $350 million mark in both countries and will continue to show double-digit growth figures. Of the active Internet users, an impressive 65% (Poland) to 72% (Turkey) play video games. The research on Turkey and Poland involved more than two hundred topics across all game platforms and business models. High-level take-aways on the game behavior of the active internet population include:

• 78% of 22 million Turkish gamers, play games on social networks: 17.2 million people.
• 47% of 12 million Polish gamers play MMO games: 5.5 million people
• More than 25% of Turkish social network gamers has spent money on these games
• 1.9 million Polish gamers spend money in free-to-play MMO games.

Sander Bosman, Chief Analyst for Newzoo: "Poland and Turkey each have their own unique profiles when it comes to genre and platform preferences as well as business models and payment methods. At the same time, they share the typical emerging market profile with about half of the money spend and more than two-thirds of the time spend going to online and mobile gaming. There is a huge opportunity for high-quality games that are tailored to the local needs in each region".

About Newzoo

Newzoo (www.newzoo.com) is an international market research firm focused purely on the games industry. The company aims to provide the best independent consumer market data across all game platforms and business models. It also operates the global B2B portal Gamesindustry.com and publishes the bi-annual Games Industry Black Book. Newzoo's clients include Kabam, Konami, GREE, Nintendo, Blizzard, Electronic Arts, ProSieben, Gamehouse, Microsoft, and SpilGames.

About GlobalCollect

GlobalCollect is the world's premier Payment Service Provider of local e-payment solutions for international Customer Not-Present (CNP) channels such as internet, mail and telephone orders, and specializes in a wide range of industries such as travel, ticketing, telecommunications, retail, publishing, portals, online gaming, and digital content. While most providers limit their services to a technical link with payment acquirers, GlobalCollect is a full service partner consulting clients on how to increase transaction volumes, expand distribution channels, and reduce costs by streamlining back office processes. Through a single-interface online payment platform, we offer access to an unrivalled portfolio of local and international payment methods in over 200 countries, including all major credit and debit cards, direct debits, bank transfers, real-time bank transfers, eWallets, cash at outlets, prepaid methods, checks, and invoices. For more information please visit www.globalcollect.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/Global_Collect, www.facebook.com/globalcollect and www.linkedin.com/company/globalcollect.

CONTACT:

Note to the editor (not for publication)
for further questions or interviews please contact GlobalCollect:
Wendy Steevensz; Senior Manager PR & Marketing Communications a.i.
Mob. +31(0)620485337
E-Mail: press.globalcollect@globalcollect.com
Web: www.globalcollect.com
or
Newzoo
Anna Rozwandowicz; PR & Marketing
Tel. +31(0)20 6635816
E-mail: anna@newzoo.com
Web: http://www.newzoo.com