ZBD UNVEILS EMBEDDED FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR VIDEO GAMES

1047 Games and Joygame leverage products from ZBD's new, complete payments stack which includes branded debit cards for games, payouts and rewards

HOBOKEN, N.J., Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ZBD, the money layer for games, today introduces a full platform of embedded financial infrastructure that powers the money lifecycle in games: money in, money through, and money out. The pioneering technology enables money to flow into games, move through them as users earn and transact, and be paid out to players and creators in exchange for the value they create, equipping ZBD to cater fully to PC and console titles following its extensive success in mobile games.

The financial infrastructure around games is fragmented and unsuited to the way play has evolved. Game economies now routinely need to serve creators, player-to-player commerce, and support esports prizes inside the game. However, existing payment stacks are often retrofitted from other industries, meaning they aren't built to cater to gaming's unique use cases and only facilitate one-way transactions. The ability to build a new two-way financial relationship with players means money movement in games evolves from being a cost center to a driver of engagement, revenue, and loyalty.

ZBD has been working to address this problem since 2019 when it set out to develop the tech and secure the licenses to power a complete, embedded payment stack for games. ZBD has raised $90M from investors including RAINE, Square Enix, and Lakestar, and is a licensed payment provider in a majority of US states and across the European Economic Area (EEA). Its rewards and payments technology has been extensively proven in the mobile games industry, where millions of players have engaged with ZBD tech in hundreds of games including Idle Bank from TapNation. Now, the rollout of its complete payment product suite means it can cater to the entire games industry end-to-end.

The ZBD platform encompasses:

• Embedded Accounts: ZBD's programmable financial infrastructure layer for studios and publishers integrates licensed embedded accounts for players directly inside a game. Primarily for PC & console platforms, Embedded Accounts enables direct pay-in deposits, real-money P2P marketplaces that reduce gray-market demand, creator economies, and compliant cash-out through licensed payment rails. ZBD Embedded Accounts is an end-to-end financial layer natively integrated into the game. The integration provides publishers with full control over their real-money economy and the financial relationships with players, allowing them to drive deeper player engagement and monetization while enabling new business models never before possible.
• Embedded Payouts: Purpose-built for game publishers that need to pay players, creators, and esports competitors at the speed and scale of modern gaming. ZBD Embedded Payouts enables instant, embedded, and compliant cash-out through modern rails including bank accounts, Cash App, gift cards, and push-to-card. It is a single integration layer embedded directly in-game, meaning from KYC to cash out, players never need to leave the game for a third-party payout platform, giving studios the flexibility to build stronger engagement programs for both players and creators.
• Embedded Rewards: The next evolution of rewarded play, lifting retention and lifetime value by integrating real-money rewards natively into core gameplay, progression milestones, and LiveOps events. ZBD Embedded Rewards keeps the entire reward journey and cash-out within the game experience, allowing studios to fully own player loyalty for every user. The reward infrastructure layers on top of the game's existing economy and monetization mechanics, with full compliance and fraud protection handled end-to-end.
• Branded Debit Cards: Built for studios who want to extend player loyalty beyond the game ecosystem, ZBD powers fully configurable white-label debit cards with "cash-back" like rewards that enable players to earn in-game currency or other in-game benefits, such as discounted subscriptions, through real-world purchases. This turns everyday spending on gas and groceries into a continuous loyalty loop that drives player engagement and repeat in-game spending. ZBD fully manages card infrastructure, virtual currency conversion, and compliance.

Gordon Thornton, CCO at ZBD, said:

"Money has been part of the video games experience for as long as I can remember, but the big shift is that consumers now expect two-way financial relationships with publishers. Studios can now evolve their financial interactions with players, turning a one-way relationship into a two-way loop that drives engagement, revenue, and loyalty. Ultimately, I see our role as enabling studios to implement strategies they've always wanted to, but simply haven't had the tech or licenses available before. This announcement is the culmination of a seven-year mission to build this capability for the industry, and we're thrilled to already see a lot of pent-up demand from studios and publishers."

Game developers worldwide have already adopted ZBD's new embedded technology. 1047 Games, developer of Splitgate and Empulse, is using ZBD's Embedded Payout technology to power their real-money referral feature and reward players for community-driven growth, while cross-platform publisher Joygame has recently introduced ZBD Embedded Rewards. They join a growing roster of game publishers including TapNation, Udo Games, and Turborilla actively partnering with ZBD to create a two-way value exchange to drive further user retention and loyalty.

John Wright, CEO at Turborilla, said:

"Retention is critical for games to succeed today, and game publishers need to start looking beyond legacy growth playbooks to boost LTV and long-term profitability. ZBD is one of the few companies building for that future by weaving together payments and player engagement. We're excited to be working with them to bring new loyalty mechanics inside our game, giving our whole player base real value for logging in every day."

Unlike traditional payment solutions, ZBD powers the financial infrastructure at the speed and scale games require: on-demand processing, micro-payouts at fractions of a cent, with built-in compliance and fraud protections. ZBD is the only fintech company that combines gaming-native infrastructure, programmable money flows, and compliance rigor into a single licensed layer.

To learn more about this full product suite, visit the ZBD website or book an appointment with us at Gamescom 2026.

About ZBD

ZBD is the embedded money layer for games, pushing the boundaries of how money and games interact to drive engagement, revenue, and loyalty for game studios. Best known for powering instant real-money rewards that boost player engagement, ZBD is the only licensed payment service provider that powers the entire money lifecycle in games through a fully embedded financial infrastructure.

To learn more, visit https://zbdpay.com.

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SOURCE ZBD