Fintech company ZBD has partnered with TapNation and Fumb Games to launch embedded in-game rewards for mobile titles. 

ZBD said embedded rewards will allow players earn real money within games to drive longer, more profitable play and deliver triple-digit retention gains.

The feature is already being used in games like TapNation’s Idle Bank with ZBD’s SDK embedding rewards into gameplay. 

The company claims the approach overcomes limits of rewards apps, which only benefit users from specific sources and mainly suit IAP-monetised games. 

“Make a game worth playing"

Real money in-game rewards are powered by the Bitcoin Lightning Network for global transactions, though developers can brand them however they choose. 

The new SDK also streamlines setup to allow games to launch custom real-money rewards. 

“Rewards are proven beyond doubt to improve the value exchange between games and gamers, leading to powerful upticks in engagement, retention and monetisation," said ZBD chief strategy officer Ben Cousens. 

“With embedded rewards, we’re unlocking that potential beyond the constraints of rewarded UA channels. We’re using real-money payments to make a game more worth playing. And removing all the complexity that usually comes with payments to create a solution tailor-made for mobile game studios.”

TapNation head of Web3 Philippe Lenormand commented: “ZBD is taking a bold approach to boosting game monetisation while keeping players happy, which comes at a good time for the industry. 

“Embedded rewards have the potential to transform performance for games, especially those that partly rely on ad monetisation.”

Last month, Apple approved ZBD's payment technology to enable Bitcoin microtransactions in iOS game SaruTobi. The move makes it one of the first iOS titles to feature native in-app purchases using Bitcoin.