Montpellier-based startup created in the spring of 2022, enCaps unveils at the 2024 edition of the GDC (Game Developers Conference), which takes place from March 18 to 22 in San Francisco, Point Nexus: a secure video game key distribution platform aimed at all professionals in the sector, including publishers, distributers, and e-tailers.
Utilizing its own encapsulation technology, this new platform secures, optimizes, and offers an unparalleled level of sales traceability, offering all parties the opportunity for more equitable revenue. Ending the Unfair Competition of the Gray Market Today, video game studios and publishers collaborate with authorized resellers for the online resale of video game keys to consumers.
A system that allows different parties to earn dividends from sales: the online store sets its prices and margins, while publishers benefit from the sales made to increase their earnings.
Unfortunately, these keys often end up (without the consent and control of the publishers) on other less scrupulous sites offering the same games at much more attractive prices, taking advantage of the low exchange rate of certain currencies, or by implementing VAT fraud schemes, thus generating a real loss of income for publishers and studios.
As a result, most publishers have lost trust in the reseller business model, sometimes even sending messages to their community asking them to prefer piracy over purchasing their game on these sales platforms*. An old, endemic problem, deeply ingrained and that had not been resolved to date.
This is why enCaps created Point Nexus. This solution attaches a digital passport in the form of a capsule to each game license circulated by the publisher. Tracked down, each license (or key) put on the market has its journey traced until the final sale to the consumer.
Made indecipherable thanks to a strong encryption algorithm, partners, distributors, and resellers handle these licenses without accessing the key itself: “By encapsulating video game keys, we give studios an unprecedented level of transparency and control in their distribution to so-called alternative resellers.
Assuring them significant revenue while eliminating the risks of a leak of their most precious assets,” explains
Antoing Janning, co-founder of enCaps. Point Nexus, the New Smart Platform for Secure Key Distribution Launched at the GDC, Point Nexus is a web platform that facilitates direct, secure, and on-demand transactions of license keys among players in the gaming industry. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies, Point Nexus streamlines distribution flows, minimizes manual interventions, and protects sold products.
With Point Nexus, all publishers and studios can geolocate in real-time the sales of their video game keys previously sent to retailers and online stores. For the latter, securing the keys via an indecipherable code until opened by the consumer also makes it easier to set up pre-sales: “Until now, publishers were quite wary of sending video game keys to online stores before the official release date, fearing an internet leak earlier than expected.
With our time-limited encapsulation solution, we can now guarantee that the codes of the keys remain indecipherable until the official launch of the game,” explains Pascal Jarde, CEO of enCaps.
Relying on cutting-edge technology, Point Nexus automates all aspects of game distribution, including catalog synchronization, price automation and promotions, etc. It also allows for real-time statistics and detailed reports on sales made by different online stores.
Sold as a subscription, enCaps offers publishers and distributors 2 months of free testing of Point Nexus for its launch. *Here is the testimony of Mike Rose, developer of the studio “No more robots” which will materialize by launching a petition to stop the sale of games on controversial sites such as G2A (change.org).
In another example, the studio Tinybuild estimated its losses at $450,000 in a post addressing the problem
that was already ongoing in 2017. (tinybuild.com)
