Net Protections, Inc. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Shin Shibata; “Net Protections”) will offer Atonegime, the first and only Pay What You Want (PWYW) payment service in Japan, for GameTector, one of Japan’s top e-sports tournament organizing platforms, developed and provided by GameTector inc. (headquartered in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Akiya Arai; “GameTector”). This will allow players to send messages and considerations (monetary payments) to e-sports tournament hosts, which could give rise to the creation of a new profession, Game Master, along the lines of YouTubers.



※ For a period of time following the release, the feature will be available to certain users only. We expect to roll it out to all hosts around the summer.

Game Masters earning 10 million yen a year could emerge

Since GameTector launched its service in January 2019, more than 25,000 tournaments have been organized on the platform. The number of tournaments held has been increasing at a rate of over 1,000 a month, and 680,000 players have so far entered GameTector tournaments.
And quite a few of the hosts organize more than 100 tournaments every three months, each of which draws over 50 entrants on average. Thus, supposing they received an average consideration of JPY 500 from each participant, that would translate into an annual income of JPY 10 million (400 tournaments per year x 50 players x JPY 500) just from hosting game tournaments.
 Through GameTector, there is the potential to create a new profession, Game Master, in the field of e-sports.

Future Game Masters have high hopes for the host support feature

[Male, 20s (student), years gaming: 11]
I think it’s a great system for monetization because it enables players who have had fun taking part in a tournament to express their gratitude and support financially to the host who organized it. I hope that it will lead to the growth of a culture of players supporting hosts, and give another boost to the e-sports market.

[Male, 20s (office worker), years gaming: 21]
The addition of the host support feature will encourage hosts to get even more imaginative when running tournaments.
I expect there to be even more tournaments, and that they will be even more fun, as participants will be able to give something back to the host who made an enjoyable tournament possible, and that will motivate the host. I’m looking forward to seeing this sort of fantastic cycle develop.

GameTector’s founder Arai’s thoughts behind “creating a new profession”

It’s been 10 years since I first set out as an entrepreneur. And the biggest change I’ve noticed during these 10 years is that nowadays business creates new professions.
 There are people who make a living on video streaming platforms as commentators or content creators these days, and people who make a living thanks to their impact as influencers on the major social media channels. But at the same time, I feel frustrated that Japan, despite being viewed as an economic superpower, has pretty much failed to come up with such services.
GameTector has adopted “Create a new profession” as its product philosophy. And I am confident that this feature will be a first step toward making the philosophy a reality.​
Net Protections have been a huge help in implementing the feature, so I’m really grateful to them. We intend to continue taking GameTector forward as a product for the next generation.​ 

About Atonegime

Atonegime is the first and only Pay What You Want (PWYW) payment service in Japan. It can be used for C2C matching platforms for businesses of all sizes from companies listed on the Prime Market of Tokyo Stock Exchange to self-employed individuals. With Atonegime’s unique PWYW features, it is possible to achieve more than payment rate of 80%, 4 times more than the amount of the traditional tip-style payment(※A). Merchants can use it with a reasonable service fee without any additional fee. Atonegime contributes to merchant's expansion in customer base and sales growth by easy-to-use PWYW payment service with low cost.

※1）Source: Company information and research. Retrieved from: https://pricing.netprotections.com/info/press/210526.html(Japanese Only) 

Overview of GameTector

GameTector is one of the biggest video game tournament hosting platforms in Japan. By using GameTector, video game tournaments can be administered smoothly and gamers can build new connections with each other. The key attraction is the ability to organize flawless e-sports tournaments thanks to all the functions required to administer/manage a tournament being available. These functions include designing the tournament, recruiting players, setting up the tournament, adjudicating games, and making competition performance data visible to players and the host. Since the service was launched in January 2019, more than 25,000 tournaments have been organized on the platform, and the number of tournaments held has been increasing at a rate of over 1,000 a month. A cumulative total of 680,000 players have so far entered GameTector tournaments.

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Overview of Net Protections, Inc.

Net Protections is a pioneer company in BNPL payment services in Japan and leading the market with top market share(※2). In 2002, Net Protections (NP) released NP Atobarai, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payment service that guarantees risk free payment for merchants in Japan for the first time. For the year ended March 31, 2021, NP Atobarai’s annual transaction volume has kept increasing 116% as compared to the previous fiscal year. NP Atobarai is used by numerous enterprises with over 15.8 million unique users in Japan(※3) and has processed more than 280 million transactions to date. In 2011, NP introduced NP Kakebarai, BtoB BNPL payment service that simplifies BtoB transaction process and guarantees risk free with its accumulated know-how. NP Kakebarai has grown 127% yearly and plays a role as the dominant BtoB payment service provider in Japan. In 2017, Net Protections released atone, BtoC BNPL payment service with membership benefits that offers better shopping experience. In 2018, NP introduced AFTEE, BtoC BNPL payment service in Taiwan. NP has accumulated transaction data since its first service launched, which enables the pursuit of new opportunities in the field of big data analysis and continues to pursue long-term business growth and organizational development to fulfill the mission to “Create New Standard.”

【Company Name】
 Net Protections, Inc.
【CEO】
Shin Shibata
【Website】
https://corp.netprotections.com/
【Business Outline】
BtoC e-commerce BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) Service, NP Atobarai
BtoB BNPL Service, NP Kakebarai
BtoC BNPL Service, NP Atobarai air for individual day-to-day operations
BtoC BNPL Service with membership benefits, atone
BtoC BNPL Service in Taiwan, AFTEE
Point Reward System, NP Point Club
【Founded】
January, 2000
【Capital】
JPY 100 million
【Headquarter】
SUMITOMO FUDOSAN KOJIMACHI FIRST BUILDING 5F, 4-2-6 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan

※2）Calculated based on the estimated size of BNPL market in Japan of JPY882 billion in FY2020 and the aggregate of GMV of NP Atobarai and atone in FY2020 of JPY360 billion. The estimated size of BNPL market in Japan is provided from Yano Research Institute “Online Payment/Settlement Service Providers 2021”
※3）The number of individual unique users of NP Atobarai based on the matching of duplicative names and phone numbers during FY3/2021 (April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021).

Direct any inquiries regarding this release to:

担当　：株式会社ネットプロテクションズ 広報
MAIL　:  pr@netprotections.co.jp