Big Fish Partners With Coinbase to Offer Bitcoin Payments for Games and In-App Purchases

Big Fish First Video Game Company on Coinbase's 25,000 Merchant Roster

News provided by

Big Fish

Mar 11, 2014, 03:04 ET

SEATTLE, March 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

News Facts:

Big Fish, the world's largest producer of casual games, is partnering with Coinbase, an international secure bitcoin wallet, to give Big Fish online customers a new, safe and convenient way to buy games and in-app purchases with bitcoin.
All Big Fish online games can now be purchased directly from Big Fish with bitcoin. Plus, several of the company's free-to-play online games will accept bitcoin for in-app purchases, including some of Big Fish's most popular and top-grossing titles, such as Big Fish Casino, Room of Memory, and Bush Wacker 2.
Coinbase is one of the most reputable and stable bitcoin platforms, with more than 1 million consumer wallets and 25,000 merchants to date. Based in San Francisco, CA, Coinbase has established itself as a leader in bitcoin transaction processing. They have raised over $31 million from notable venture firms, such as Andreeson Horowitz, and its founders hail from top banking and technology firms, including Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, Google and Airbnb.
Big Fish is Coinbase's first game company to use its transaction platform. Roughly half of Big Fish's $266 million 2013 gross revenues were transacted through its own ecommerce system that will now offer bitcoin as a payment method.
Bitcoin is a payment option specifically designed for digital transactions, so using it to buy Big Fish digital game products makes sense. Bitcoin enables lower transaction fees for Big Fish, and a simple digital payment capability for Big Fish customers that works worldwide.
To use bitcoin on Big Fish, players can easily purchase using a Coinbase wallet, or any other bitcoin wallet solution.
Coinbase's instant exchange feature will ensure Big Fish has no exchange rate risk: Big Fish will immediately settle transactions in USD and is not at any risk of bitcoin price volatility.

Quotes:

Paul Thelen, CEO and Founder of Big Fish: "Being able to offer bitcoin payments to our consumers through Coinbase is just one more way Big Fish is meeting demand and setting the pace for the mainstream consumer and for the mainstream industry. This is not a test, this payment method will be available worldwide for all of Big Fish PC and Mac games in the Big Fish app store. We are excited to offer this new payment method to the nearly 105 million annual mainstream game players that visit our game app stores, with the reassurance that Big Fish is working with Coinbase, one of the most secure and reputable companies in the bitcoin industry."

Fred Ehrsam, Co-founder of Coinbase: "Our partnership with Big Fish is our first with a game company merchant, and not only signifies the growing adoption of bitcoin across major industries, but also the future of small purchases on the internet. Base fees on credit cards can take 15% or more of small purchases on the internet. Big Fish not only wanted to have an alternative and less costly form of payment, but also wanted to stay ahead of the curve by offering its customers options on how to pay for their entertainment."

Resources:

About Big Fish

Founded in 2002, Big Fish is the world¹s largest producer of casual games, delivering fun to millions of people around the world through its digital distribution, mobile and e-commerce game platforms. To date, Big Fish has distributed more than 2 billion games to customers in 150 countries from a growing catalogue of 3,000+ unique PC games and 400+ unique mobile games. In 2013, the company's mobile revenues were almost 50% of it overall gross revenue. "Big Fish Casino" lead the way and was the only casino game to be named on both of Apple's 2013 top-grossing iPad and iPhone charts. The company is headquartered in Seattle, WA, with regional offices in Oakland, CA, and Luxembourg.

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWGE2MtaaVc
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131014/SF96949LOGO

SOURCE Big Fish