Key Takeaways
- Neon raised $13 million led by Krafton after 200% year-over-year growth
- Some publishers now route 50-70% of gross revenue through direct web stores, bypassing app store fees
- Customer data ownership, not fee savings, is the real long-term value of direct-to-consumer gaming commerce
Neon, a gaming commerce infrastructure company, raised $13 million in a round led by Krafton, following 200% growth over the prior year. The company positions itself as the backbone for game publishers building direct-to-consumer channels outside Apple and Google's app stores.
Getting out of the app stores turned out to be the easy part. Regulators forced open the gates. Alternative payment channels multiplied. But escaping platform commissions and building a functioning direct commerce business are different problems. One is an exit. The other requires payments, identity verification, fraud prevention, loyalty programs, and customer data infrastructure from scratch.
That gap is where Neon planted its flag. The company was first pitched as the "Shopify of gaming," and CEO Chris Faught told PYMNTS the label still fits. It just no longer captures the full ambition.
“What we've been building, and what our vision is set on now, is being the infrastructure on which these publishers build more scalable direct consumer channels, and also a commerce ecosystem around their business in general.”
— Chris Faught, CEO at Neon
Why fee arbitrage was only the opening move
The original pitch for direct gaming commerce was pure spreadsheet math. Route purchases through a web store, skip the platform's 30% cut, keep more revenue. Simple.
The math held up. Faught said Neon partners have pulled 30%, 40%, 50%, and in some cases more than 70% of gross revenue off Apple and Google purchasing channels. But fee arbitrage was always the opening move, not the endgame.
The question that decides the next few years is whether publishers can own the relationship wrapped around those transactions, not just the transactions themselves.
"They're finding themselves in a transition period," Faught said. "'I feel like I'm overpaying to the existing partner. I feel like I need to better understand payments and the cost of payments and how international payments fees work.'"
The arc should sound familiar. It's the eCommerce playbook on fast-forward. A brand starts selling on Amazon because Amazon has the traffic. Then it builds its own storefront. Over time, it develops the muscle to run its own customers, payments, and distribution across multiple channels. Gaming is speed-running that graduation now.
The trap of graduating into a new dependency
Traditional merchant-of-record providers will happily handle payments, taxes, compliance, and global commerce complexity. In doing so, they plant themselves between the publisher and the player. That's the exact seat the app store used to occupy.
"If you zoom out, it ends up looking exactly like the structure the market did with the app stores in the first place," Faught said. "Just a new intermediary."
PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster noted this pattern repeats across industries. "The new thing is great because it's new and it's different and it's better than the alternative," she said. "And then over time, the new thing becomes the thing that people love not to like anymore."
Neon's bet is that major publishers have outgrown the need to hand their commercial relationships to anyone. What they need is infrastructure that hands them the controls without becoming the next dependency they resent.
Customer data is the real prize
Ask what gaming commerce looks like in a few years, and the answer resembles omnichannel retail. Publishers keep distributing through Apple and Google while also running web stores and selling into moments that already surround games: livestreams, community forums, esports events.
Customer ownership survives even in a world where app store fees drop to nothing. Retailers have spent decades hoarding purchase histories, email addresses, and attribution data. Game publishers often start from almost none of it.
The platforms have "purposefully obfuscated who that user is to the publisher," Faught explained. That's why the direct channel pays for itself on data alone.
“Even in the case where the fees end up being equivalent, the ability to acquire customer data, market directly, cross-sell future games and increase lifetime value is worth doing.”
— Chris Faught, CEO at Neon
Reframed this way, discounts, exclusive digital items, cash back, and loyalty rewards stop looking like promotions. They become customer acquisition tools and data collection mechanisms, the same playbook retail brands have run for years.
Logicity's Take
Neon's real competition isn't other gaming payment startups. It's companies like Xsolla and Paddle that already handle merchant-of-record complexity for digital goods. The difference: those platforms insert themselves as the seller, owning the customer relationship. Neon's pitch to let publishers stay in the driver's seat sounds attractive, but it means publishers must build internal capabilities they've never needed. For mid-tier studios without finance teams, a full MoR like Xsolla (which takes 5-10% depending on scale) may remain easier. The $13M from Krafton, a major publisher itself, signals confidence that at least the top tier wants those controls back.
What this means for fintech teams watching gaming
Gaming's commerce evolution mirrors patterns fintech teams have seen in retail, creator monetization, and subscription businesses. The playbook is consistent: platforms capture value through intermediation, then merchants fight to reclaim customer relationships.
For payment infrastructure providers, gaming represents a large and underserved market. Global mobile game revenue exceeds $90 billion annually, with platform fees historically capturing 30% of in-app purchases. Even partial disintermediation creates meaningful opportunity.
The winners will be infrastructure providers that handle complexity without demanding customer ownership in return. That's a harder business to build, but it's the one Neon is attempting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Neon raise and who led the round?
Neon raised $13 million in a round led by Krafton, the South Korean gaming company behind PUBG.
What percentage of revenue are publishers moving off app stores?
According to Neon CEO Chris Faught, some partners have moved 50-70% of gross revenue to direct channels, bypassing Apple and Google purchasing.
Why does customer data matter more than fee savings?
App stores obscure player identity from publishers. Direct channels let publishers build purchase histories, email lists, and attribution data for marketing and cross-selling future games.
What is a merchant-of-record and why do publishers avoid it?
A merchant-of-record handles payments, taxes, and compliance by becoming the legal seller. The tradeoff is they sit between publisher and customer, recreating the intermediation problem publishers are trying to escape.
How fast is Neon growing?
Neon reported 200% year-over-year growth ahead of its $13 million raise announced July 2026.
Another recent $100M+ raise in a specialized infrastructure category
Need Help Implementing This?
If your team is evaluating payment infrastructure, commerce platforms, or direct-to-consumer strategies, reach out to Logicity's fintech advisory network. We connect teams with implementation partners who have shipped these systems at scale.
Source: PYMNTS | / PYMNTS
Huma Shazia
Senior AI & Tech Writer
Produced with AI assistance and reviewed by the Logicity editorial team. Learn more in our Editorial Policy.
