Out of the Park Developments and FastSpring: A Case Study

Key Result
Partner in Global Growth
Industry
Computer Games
Headquarters
Hamburg, Germany
“We have been delighted with everything about FastSpring—from the robust platform to the helpful customer service that supports our company growth goals."

Richard Grisham, CMO + COO, Out of the Park Developments

The Company

Out of the Park Developments, the premiere US-sport simulation and management game development company was founded in 1999 in Hamburg, Germany. Their games are a unique combination of strategy and fun. Their library of genre-leading computer games available on PC, MAC, Linux, Android and iOS includes Out of the Park Baseball and Franchise Hockey Manager.

The team has grown from two co-founders to 10 full-time employees working remotely from around the world. This small but mighty team’s mission is to deliver high-quality sport simulation games to their growing base of fans around the world.

The Challenge

After almost two decades of being in business, the OOTPD team faced a difficult decision. Their existing ecommerce solution, eSellerate, was ceasing operations which would leave OOTPD without a solution to accept payments from their customers.

OOTPD understood the crucial role an ecommerce solution can play in the overall success of their business so they immediately went out to find a new ecommerce solution that would best meet their business needs.

“If you are a digital distributor of video games, your ecommerce provider needs to be really good because they are essential to the success of the business.”

With that mindset, the team looked for an ecommerce partner that combined robust technology, world-class support, while remaining flexible enough to support their long-term growth goals.

The Solution

After hearing positive feedback and reviews online from other users, OOTPD decided to partner with Fastspring.

“To be successful, to grow, and scale your business, you need to delight your customers. So having the right ecommerce partner that supports your same goals is absolutely essential. And Out of the Park Developments has that kind of partnership with FastSpring.”

OOTPD partnered with FastSpring for a variety of reasons including:

  • 24/7 platform uptime. As a global video game company, ensuring their operations are up and running 24/7 is essential. From day one, FastSpring has consistently delivered on its promise to keep OOTPD’s operations fully functional.
  • Robust ecommerce functionality. The ecommerce tools built-in to the FastSpring app make it easy for the OOTPD team to quickly locate valuable information about their customers—order details, license keys, etc. So they save time and resources while accomplishing tasks and delighting their customers. And they are freed up to focus on more strategic areas of their business.
  • Localization features. OOTPD has been selling globally for many years. With FastSpring, they can now optimize their checkout for their global customers with relevant currencies, payment methods, and languages.
  • A committed partner. In FastSpring, the OOTPD team found a partner who shares their commitment to long-term growth.

“Recently, we got together with FastSpring to work on a project to help us add Korean localization to our checkout because the Korean market is one of our top markets after North America. From start to finish, it’s been a great experience to work with FastSpring.”

FastSpring Feature Shoutout: The FastSpring Affiliate Program. The OOTPD team can focus their time and energy on delivering new features and capabilities in their video games without sacrificing their marketing efforts thanks to the FastSpring affiliate program. Through this program, they can connect with high-quality partners that help expand their marketing reach on their behalf.

The Results

“We are a major success because of our community. Thanks to our partnership with FastSpring, we are able to do everything we can to delight them every day, at every single touchpoint from initial purchase to the actual gameplay.”

Over the past 18 months, FastSpring’s full-service ecommerce platform has supported Out of the Park Developments (OOTPD) as they executed an enterprise-wide campaign to increase their customer base – with all goals achieved. This growth spurt has brought new challenges and opportunities to the business.

Out of the Park Developments’ business is all about delighting their customers. With FastSpring’s partnership, they have been able to live up to their mission. The collaboration with FastSpring goes beyond keeping the business running. It’s a true, committed partnership that supports the long-term growth of Out of the Park Developments.

One of OOTPD’s company goals for next year is to localize their entire product. This will be a monumental task for the team as their games are very text-rich. FastSpring will be there throughout this project to support their goal with localized checkout experiences. The OOTPD team is looking forward to expanding their customer base worldwide.

“We’re absolutely thrilled with FastSpring, we’re happy with the tools the platform provides us and the support we receive.”

Watch video or listen to audio of Richard’s story here. Learn more about how FastSpring helps game developers sell games online.