888’s Dragonfish Enters Virtual World SecondLife

In a departure from its core online gaming operations, 888's white-label division Dragonfish has entered into an agreement with Linden Lab to provide e-payment processing services to the virtual world SecondLife.

With more than ten years experience in global payment processing, Dragonfish will provide its back office functionality and advanced cashier interface to Linden Lab for the management of e-payments, fraud and customer support services.

The agreement with Linden Lab represents a significant extension of Dragonfish's offering beyond the gaming industry into the wider retail environment and strengthens the company's position in the regulated PSP market.

"Today's agreement extends our offer of Total Gaming Services into Total Payment Services and highlights the increasingly diverse nature and strength of Dragonfish's operations," said Dragonfish Managing Director, Gabi Campos.

"We have many gaming partners interested in our e-Payment solutions but this is a giant step beyond our core operations into the retail environment. It's an excellent complementary business for Dragonfish which will provide incremental revenue."

SecondLife is the world's leading 3D virtual world environment with a fully integrated economy generating close to US$35 million worth of transactions each month, with over 29.6 million transactions in October alone.

SecondLife hit the headlines back in 2007 when FBI agents entered the virtual world to investigate gambling within the environment, following introduction of the UIGEA in the United States. The action resulted in a virtual-UIGEA in SecondLife banning any games of chance, which Linden Lab said was due to conflicting gambling regulations around the world.

Commenting on today's agreement with Dragonfish, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon said: "Second Life Residents log into the virtual world from nearly every country around the globe and participate in a virtual economy that will exceed USD500 million this year.

"Dragonfish has a strong track record in unlocking new markets through its unique and secure payment processing solutions, and as Second Life continues to grow internationally, we're pleased to work with them to provide easy and secure payment options for our users outside the United States."