EA will integrate Live Gamer’s advanced Elements microtransaction platform with its global IT systems to augment its existing ecommerce capabilities for EA studios worldwide.

According to a recent report, DFC Intelligence estimates that the virtual item-based model category will continue to grow to an estimated $7B worldwide by 2015. As the leading revenue driver for online games today, even the largest, mainstream gaming publishers are now turning toward this model for continued success. Live Gamer has powered microtransactions since the first online game implemented the business model in Korea in 2001, and offers a complete offering for integrating, managing and maximizing microtransaction-based initiatives for enterprise and independent developers alike.

Live Gamer Elements offers EA a breadth of new payment gateways, advanced virtual goods merchandising functionality, deep analytics capabilities, virtual item gifting, support for fictional (earned in-game) currencies, item storefronts, robust catalog management, cash-in flows and much more.

“We selected Live Gamer due to its unique ecommerce functionality and payment methods which will augment EA’s current ecommerce capabilities” said Dennis Self, EA’s Chief Information Officer. “With that, EA is committed to its efforts to enable global online gaming capabilities, and Live Gamer provides us with additional capabilities to do that.”

“EA is synonymous with some of the most popular video games of all time. EA has also embraced and innovated new business models in the game industry since its pioneering efforts in online gaming and now extending to their entrance into social gaming," said Andrew Schneider, President and Co-Founder, Live Gamer. “We are honored to be part of EA’s efforts to further evolve the industry and offer gamers new and exciting online experiences.”