Funimation Entertainment Taps PlaySpan Platform to Bring Top Anime Videos to Millions of Gamers
Leading Publisher of Japanese Animation Now Featuring Hundreds of Premium Shows Across PlaySpan's Video Monetization-as-a-Service™Platform
SANTA CLARA – November 19, 2010
PlaySpan, the global leader in monetizing online games, social networks, virtual worlds and videos, announced today an extensive content partnership with FUNimation Entertainment to sell hundreds of their premium anime shows on PlaySpan Marketplace. “We are thrilled to offer the millions of ready-to-spend gamers who visit PlaySpan Marketplace to transact for virtual currency, virtual goods, games and videos, the opportunity to sample and stream FUNimation's extremely compelling entertainment. The PlaySpan pay-per-view technology featured on PSM can be quickly integrated into any video player and major media companies are flocking to our platform to generate innovative new revenue streams,” said Karl Mehta, CEO, PlaySpan. FUNimation programming on PlaySpan Marketplace includes wildly popular shows like Devil May Cry, Air Gear, Baccano!, Darker than Black, Gunslinger Girl, Negima!, Shuffle! and Soul Eater. Anime resonates so deeply with gamers that video series often evolve from hit game franchises and vice versa. For example, FUNimation's Devil May Cry is based on the hack and slash cult classic CAPCOM video game which has sold over ten million copies worldwide.
The shows can be previewed for the first minute free and are available for a week of unlimited streaming for 99UP ($.99) with just a simple click of the pay button while sampling. To celebrate the debut of FUNimation on PSM, PlaySpan is offering a holiday code, 1111-1111-XMASFUN-236959, for 50 UPoints to the first 1000 people who redeem them at PlaySpan Marketplace Video Showcase, store.playspan.com/videos-landing. New accounts receive an additional 100 UPoints.
FUNimation is the fifth publisher to sign onto the PlaySpan Marketplace Video Showcase and joins award-winning producers and YouTube sensations Revision3, Blame Society Films, ChadMattandRob, and Fun Little Movies in using PlaySpan's virtual currency microtransactions platform.
“We're very excited to be featured in PlaySpan Marketplace as it allows us to extend our reach to an online gaming audience and experiment with pay-per-view streaming in a cinematic setting.” said Brandon White, Director, Marketing & Business Development, FUNimation Entertainment. The PlaySpan Marketplace Video Showcase features PlaySpan's revolutionary 1-click, in-video, virtual currency microtransactions technology that capitalizes on the viewer's impulse to buy in the moment.
To integrate frictionless pay-per-view into your video player or sell your shows on PlaySpan Marketplace, contact Martine Paris, Head of PlaySpan Video Monetization Platform at [email protected].
About FUNimation® Entertainment
FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation® is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for being the market share leader for home video sales of anime in the United States. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About PlaySpan Inc.
PlaySpan™ is the global leader in monetization solutions for more than 1,000 online games, social networks, and online videos. PlaySpan's patent-pending Monetization-as-a-Service™ platform enables publishers and developers to generate new revenue streams and grow ARPU.
PlaySpan's Monetization-as-a-Service™ with its global payments product, UltimatePay™ delivers over 85 global payment methods in 180 countries including credit cards, PayPal, mobile payments, and PlaySpan's ULTIMATE GAME CARD®, the #1 selling multi-game pre-paid card, available in over 50,000 retail locations across North America and a growing list of countries worldwide.
PlaySpan is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Ohio, Virginia, and Mumbai. Investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, Vodafone Ventures, SoftBank Bodhi Fund, STIC, and Novel TMT Ventures. The company has won over 13 major awards in the past 3 years, was honored by Inc Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in its Inc 5000 list for 2010 and was named to Business Insider's prestigious Digital 100 for 2010.
For more information about PlaySpan, visit: http://developer.playspan.com/
SANTA CLARA – November 19, 2010
PlaySpan, the global leader in monetizing online games, social networks, virtual worlds and videos, announced today an extensive content partnership with FUNimation Entertainment to sell hundreds of their premium anime shows on PlaySpan Marketplace. “We are thrilled to offer the millions of ready-to-spend gamers who visit PlaySpan Marketplace to transact for virtual currency, virtual goods, games and videos, the opportunity to sample and stream FUNimation's extremely compelling entertainment. The PlaySpan pay-per-view technology featured on PSM can be quickly integrated into any video player and major media companies are flocking to our platform to generate innovative new revenue streams,” said Karl Mehta, CEO, PlaySpan. FUNimation programming on PlaySpan Marketplace includes wildly popular shows like Devil May Cry, Air Gear, Baccano!, Darker than Black, Gunslinger Girl, Negima!, Shuffle! and Soul Eater. Anime resonates so deeply with gamers that video series often evolve from hit game franchises and vice versa. For example, FUNimation's Devil May Cry is based on the hack and slash cult classic CAPCOM video game which has sold over ten million copies worldwide.
The shows can be previewed for the first minute free and are available for a week of unlimited streaming for 99UP ($.99) with just a simple click of the pay button while sampling. To celebrate the debut of FUNimation on PSM, PlaySpan is offering a holiday code, 1111-1111-XMASFUN-236959, for 50 UPoints to the first 1000 people who redeem them at PlaySpan Marketplace Video Showcase, store.playspan.com/videos-landing. New accounts receive an additional 100 UPoints.
FUNimation is the fifth publisher to sign onto the PlaySpan Marketplace Video Showcase and joins award-winning producers and YouTube sensations Revision3, Blame Society Films, ChadMattandRob, and Fun Little Movies in using PlaySpan's virtual currency microtransactions platform.
“We're very excited to be featured in PlaySpan Marketplace as it allows us to extend our reach to an online gaming audience and experiment with pay-per-view streaming in a cinematic setting.” said Brandon White, Director, Marketing & Business Development, FUNimation Entertainment. The PlaySpan Marketplace Video Showcase features PlaySpan's revolutionary 1-click, in-video, virtual currency microtransactions technology that capitalizes on the viewer's impulse to buy in the moment.
To integrate frictionless pay-per-view into your video player or sell your shows on PlaySpan Marketplace, contact Martine Paris, Head of PlaySpan Video Monetization Platform at [email protected].
About FUNimation® Entertainment
FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation® is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for being the market share leader for home video sales of anime in the United States. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About PlaySpan Inc.
PlaySpan™ is the global leader in monetization solutions for more than 1,000 online games, social networks, and online videos. PlaySpan's patent-pending Monetization-as-a-Service™ platform enables publishers and developers to generate new revenue streams and grow ARPU.
PlaySpan's Monetization-as-a-Service™ with its global payments product, UltimatePay™ delivers over 85 global payment methods in 180 countries including credit cards, PayPal, mobile payments, and PlaySpan's ULTIMATE GAME CARD®, the #1 selling multi-game pre-paid card, available in over 50,000 retail locations across North America and a growing list of countries worldwide.
PlaySpan is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Ohio, Virginia, and Mumbai. Investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, Vodafone Ventures, SoftBank Bodhi Fund, STIC, and Novel TMT Ventures. The company has won over 13 major awards in the past 3 years, was honored by Inc Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in its Inc 5000 list for 2010 and was named to Business Insider's prestigious Digital 100 for 2010.
For more information about PlaySpan, visit: http://developer.playspan.com/
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