To reach every corner of the world with the games on its Android platform, Google is thinking about how people pay, according to VentureBeat.
Speaking at the GamesBeat 2014 conference this week, Google head of game business development Bob Meese said the key to the success of Android around the world depends largely on providing multiple ways for gamers to shell out money for games. While Android has a market share lead, Apple’s App Store has the advantage of having iTunes customers’ payment information for years.
To compete, the company is investing in multiple ways for people to pay, ranging from direct carrier billing (in-app payments that show up on the user’s phone bill, which Google offers in 26 countries) to Google Play gift cards (supported in 22 countries) and PayPal payments (in 12 countries).
Google’s investment in payments represents a wider trend within the company to improve its tools for other companies making games, Meese said. Those Google efforts include working to provide developers with ways of understanding how consumers use Google Play, and localizing games for international markets.
The goal is to create opportunities for game developers to collect more in-app payments. “We have these general-purpose platforms at Google,” Meese said, “but we can make them smarter for the gaming community.”
