Wargaming, an online multiplayer game developer, has announced today a partnership with BitPay that will allow gamers to purchase in-game items with bitcoin. The new payment method will only be available to US players.

Wargaming is a leader in the massively-multiplayer online (MMO) gaming market, with over fifteen titles such as World of Tanks and World of Warships. Most games are free to play, but gamers have the option of purchasing extras from within the game.

“Now players in the United States can use bitcoin to get the virtual gold that serves as Wargaming’s currency for in-game power-ups in World of Tanks, World of Warships, and World of Warplanes.“

When compared to credit cards, bitcoin is a much more suitable method of payment when it comes to in-game micro-transactions, “As a native digital top-up method, bitcoin will give Wargaming’s customers an alternative to filling out credit card forms and a simpler, faster way to get the virtual gold they need.”

According to the announcement on BitPay’s blog, gamers will be able to utilize the Payment Protocol option when making bitcoin transactions on Wargaming. This option allows users to setup a return address in case something goes wrong with the transaction. The Payment Protocol also sends a copy of the transaction receipt to BitPay’s servers, which can rebroadcast the payment on the Bitcoin network to make sure it is confirmed more quickly.

“This reduces the need for back and forth between customers and Wargaming’s support team.”

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