Sanlo, a fintech startup that helps gaming companies manage finances, on Wednesday announced the closed beta launch of its web store tool, providing select game developers and studios with a plug-in-play solution that works along with your existing technology stacks. Gaming companies can join the waiting list starting today.
With Google and Apple charging a 30% fee for in-app purchases, it’s harder than ever for small and medium-sized gaming companies to run profitable businesses. Gaming giant Epic has complained about Apple’s revenue cuts for years, accusing it of being predatory toward smaller companies.
As a result, many mobile game developers are no longer relying on app stores for monetization and are turning to third-party web stores, a growing trend in gaming where companies can run stores on their own websites for a much lower fee. (about 4-10%). . Additionally, web stores are believed to increase revenue as players purchase directly from the gaming company, unlike app stores, which take a cut of sales. In fact, Sanlo said developers can earn up to 25% more revenue with a web store.
“A workshop is one of those super tactical steps that really showed that revenue can be implemented,” Sanlo co-founder and CEO Olya Caliujnaia told TechCrunch. “The reason is that it is usually the most committed and loyal players who go to the web store and get special offers that allow them to get better at the game.”
Image credits: sanlo
With Sanlo’s new webstore tool, game developers get a variety of promotional mechanisms such as exclusive digital items, bundles, discounted offers, and loyalty programs to encourage more players to try the game. Developers can also access player data so they can monitor profiles and purchasing activity in order to target individual users with attractive offers.
Companies can test and set prices “without price limits,” according to Sanlo. Profits from web store sales are deposited into the developer’s account once a week.
One downside to web stores is that Apple and Google don’t allow mobile games to advertise them within apps. Sanlo offers marketing tools as a solution to this problem, such as in-game prompts to promote the web store, sending emails to returning visitors, and ROAS (return on ad spend) attribution tracking.
Sanlo has added an undisclosed number of gaming companies to its webstore platform, including Fuse box setsthe developer behind mobile titles inspired by the “Love Island” IP.
“The biggest draw for me was the plug-and-play nature of the Sanlo tool, as well as the hands-on service they provide,” Terry Lee, COO of Fusebox, told us. “We are a small company without the internal resources to cover all the bases when it comes to supporting a completely new technical capability.”
Sanlo plans to officially release the new product to all developers this summer.
Caliujnaia and William Liu (CTO) founded Sanlo in 2020. The company’s team touts their previous experience at Capital One, Earnest, Electronic Arts, Facebook, SigFig, Sony PlayStation, Visa, and more.
To date, the company has raised $13.5 million in total funding and is backed by Initial Capital, Index Ventures, Portage Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, London Venture Partners, and Konvoy.
Web store solutions have been around for years, from more established companies like Xsolla to newer entrants like Appcharge. Popular games that take advantage of web stores include Clash of Clans, Game of Thrones: Conquest, Marvel Strike Force, and Star Trek Fleet Command.
