Aleksandr Agapitov is a relatively unknown figure in the video game industry, much alone the commercial world. Despite this, his firm is a major participant in the $135 billion (approximately Rs. 10,30,040 crore) video game payments market, where users pay real money for virtual goods.
Agapitov launched Xsolla in 2005 to enable video game developers to sell in-game digital objects like “skins” that modify a character’s look or virtual pets in return for a 5% share of the sales. Some of the hottest firms in the market, such as Epic Games, Valve, and Roblox, whose platform is a smash with kids, are among its clientele. He controls the whole firm, which generated about $100 million (approximately Rs. 760 crore) in revenue last year.
According to papers reviewed by Bloomberg, two investment banks predicted last year that if Xsolla went public, it might seek a value of up to $3 billion (approximately Rs. 22,890 crore).
Nonetheless, he is not in a hurry to do so. Agapitov, who was born in Russia and came to Los Angeles when he was 25, appreciates the independence that comes with not having to answer to shareholders. His objective is to get the firm back to a 40% annual revenue growth rate, up from the current 25%.
In an interview, he said, “I simply want to assist game creators earn more money.” “Video games produce amazing inventions.”
According to statistics source Newzoo, digital in-game sales accounted for more than three-quarters of all income earned by the $180 billion (approximately Rs. 13,73,110 crore) worldwide video game business last year.
“There’s a desire to monetize beyond that initial purchase price,” Julianne Harty, a gaming researcher at Newzoo, said of free-to-play games.
The Metaverse Project is a group of people that want to
Agapitov started X.LA, a metaverse-based initiative, in February. It aims to provide a monetary incentive to individuals who produce items in the metaverse, similar to what Xsolla offers for video game creators.
Agaptiov took a team of Xsolla personnel with him to complete the task, which included hardwiring the metaverse’s protocols and blockchain technology. If successful, a person who creates a region of the metaverse might earn virtual cash as a “reward” whenever other users visit that place.
“It’s about how to be financed, how to get paid, how to acquire new consumers, and how to communicate with your customers, just as it is in any other business,” Agapitov added.
Agapitov was born in Perm, a city located 1,127 kilometers east of Moscow. He went to a nearby university to study math and computer science, but dropped out to spend more time with his fiancée and earn money performing odd jobs. He merged his interest in early online payment systems with his passion of video games around the same time. After garnering the attention of several major clients, he relocated Xsolla to California in 2009.