Exclusive Q&A w/ Jonas Martins Director of Video Gaming & Media at Worldline

Tell us about your career to date and how you came to join Worldline? (highlights and stories)

I’ve always been in customer-facing roles, moving into the world of banking & finance straight out of College. I started out at Complex Telco and Private Network companies including BBVA and AT&T  When the telco bubble began to burst I decided to explore other industries and opportunities. Following a six-month sabbatical living in different cities across Europe I returned to the world of finance in 2011 when e-commerce was really beginning to take off. The tech innovation made it a hugely exciting time and I began my long but fun and enjoyable journey into the world of M&A. Lots of hard work has led to proven success which landed me in the fast-paced and challenging but rewarding role I’ve found myself in at Worldline.

What does your role as ‘Director of Gaming and Media’ at Worldline entail?

I lead a global team that engages with customers in the Video Game Industry. Our platform allows video game publishers, distributors and vendors to accept online payments wherever their player base is located, however, they like to pay through a single technical integration. Our overriding focus is to help our customer base increase their reach and optimise their revenue streams.

What drew you to the games industry?

I was part of the first generation of video gamers. I started playing and even developing 8-bit games at a very young age. This led to an interest in PC gaming and eventually consoles. I’ve always tried to stay as connected as possible to the gaming community. I’m a naturally creative person so I am attracted to the huge wealth and diversity of universes you can find in video games.

Are you a gamer in your downtime/what do you play?

I don’t get as much time to game as I would like to. I currently only play games on Nintendo Switch, mostly with my daughter.  We play games like MarioKart, Lego Star Wars, Lego Marvel Superheroes, Spyro or Splatoon. When gaming on my own I revisit 8bit games on ATARI 50 which is the compilation designed to celebrate their anniversary and has an archive of over 100 classic games.

Worldline is a payment and transactional services company. What does this mean in practice?

It means we help millions of businesses of all sizes to realise their ambitions in a much faster, simpler, more efficient and secure way. We provide advanced payment technology that helps deliver seamless payment experiences.

What are the benefits of in-app purchases for developers and players? How will the impending alternative payments regulation affect this?

As it becomes more and more difficult for developers to monetise through ads, in-app purchases provide an additional source of revenue. For players, in-app purchases can allow for frictionless gameplay as an alternative to viewing ads.

We are currently seeing small shifts in control from the app stores in preparation for regulation across the EU and the US. We have already seen the positive effects on the games industry that have taken place in regions like South Korea where a law was already passed in 2022 allowing game developers to implement alternative payment systems.

In-app purchases via third parties outside of the app stores can ultimately provide developers and players with more control over the user experience and flexibility in how they make and process payments. There are far more payment options and different ways to process credit card transactions allowing lower costs and higher authorisation rates.

With the EU Digital Markets Act due to be implemented in March, how will European gaming shift in 2024?

I’m expecting to see most developers and publishers taking a patient approach to see which major developers will go first and wait for the result. As soon as this becomes clear many other developers and publishers will gradually make adjustments, switching to a 3rd party payment processor like Worldline and making adjustments to the in-app payment pages. In the longer term, people will see a major impact on the profitability of mobile games and we might see an increase in investments in this market.