K2 Network Institutionalizes The Secondary Market

K2 Network has outsourced and institutionalized its secondary market through a deal with PlaySpan. That company now manages a marketplace for sale of in-game virtual goods. This is nothing new for Korean games who don't appear to be quite as touchy about the subject as North Americans - most the games are powered through player-to-vendor transactions - but this is, according to K2, the first time a peer-to-peer service has been offered.

K2 NETWORK SELECTS PLAYSPAN FOR IN-GAME COMMERCE

Santa Clara, CA- October 2, 2007 - K2 Network, Inc. (K2network.net), an online game publisher, and PlaySpan, the first publisher-sponsoredTM in-game commerceTM network, today announced an agreement to make PlaySpan K2 Network's official in-game marketplace for virtual goods. The ground breaking agreement will take in-game commerce and gameplay experience to the next level.

This is a multi-year exclusive agreement across multiple titles that makes PlaySpan the first publisher-sponsored marketplace. With K2 Network's integration of the PlaySpan in-game client, K2 Network gamers will have the advantage of an efficient and open market for virtual goods within their favorite online games.

"A large segment of our gamers enjoy peer-to-peer commerce as a part of their game experience and we want to respond to our gamer's needs," said Joshua Hong, Co-Founder & CEO, K2 Network Inc. "PlaySpan is leading the category with its in-game widget technology and peer-to-peer micro-transaction network which greatly enhances the game experience and we are excited to be one of the first to provide this truly integrated user experience."

"K2 Network is a recognized leader in online games publishing and a pioneer in lowering the entry barrier for gamers to enjoy premium quality games with a superior in-game experience," said Karl Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, PlaySpan Inc. "K2 Network's selection of PlaySpan after rigorous evaluation is a major endorsement for our cutting-edge in-game technology and our industry-wide initiative to create the first publisher-sponsored marketplace."

"We expect micro-transactions to emerge as a major revenue stream for online games and PlaySpan is clearly the pioneer in publisher-sponsored in-game commerce networks," said Michael Pachter, Research Analyst and Managing Director for the Game & Media Sector at Wedbush Morgan Securities. "We believe that K2 Network's selection of PlaySpan as its official marketplace will establish publisher-sponsored commerce networks as the mechanism for the delivery of micro-transactions in the gaming industry."

Permalink