Mastercard and Xsolla announced a gaming-payments partnership on February 9, 2023. The planned services included spending card loyalty points on games, gifting in-game currency and improving payment processes for creators.

The first integration would bring Mastercard's Pay with Points capability into Xsolla's Pay Station. Rewards from participating issuers and merchants could be redeemed for in-game purchases, with availability planned later in 2023. The companies scheduled a demonstration for the March Game Developers Conference.

The partnership also proposed authentication and fraud-detection tools that could give parents more control before children made purchases. Mastercard linked the project to its research showing difficulties with acquiring game currency, lengthy payment processes and dissatisfaction with digital gifting.

The companies intended to combine Xsolla's commerce platform with Mastercard's payments, loyalty and security services. Their announcement described a development partnership and planned capabilities; it did not establish universal availability across every game, card issuer or market.