Introduction to Wallets
Overview
The AccelByte Gaming Services (AGS) Wallet service provides a way for your players to hold virtual currency within their game profiles. Virtual Currencies are stored in players' wallets, and these wallets can be configured to share their balances across different platforms. There are two types of virtual currency: time-limited and permanent.
Although you can have multiple virtual currencies in your game, each wallet can hold only one currency. If your game contains multiple virtual currencies, players will have multiple wallets. From the Admin Portal, you can credit coins to or debit coins from a wallet, or view a wallet's transaction history.
Key concepts
There are several key concepts in the design of the Wallet service.
Wallet structure
Each virtual currency is considered to be a wallet by itself. Under each virtual currency wallet, a player will have multiple sub-wallets for each platform source. For example, for VC X, a player may have sub-wallets of it from Steam, PlayStation and System (AccelByte).
Currency-specific wallet
Each wallet can only hold one type of virtual currency. Under each wallet, there can be various sub-wallets (the source of virtual currencies) since each sub-wallet represents the source a virtual currency comes from. Each sub-wallet can be separately credited or debited, and the balance of a wallet is the sum of all balances of the sub-wallets.
Virtual Currency purchased on Steam is only available in the Steam-specific sub-wallet, but if, for example, a Steam Wallet is added as a source of payment under Epic, then virtual currency in Steam Wallets can also be used as a source of payment in Epic.
Cross platform
Wallet balances can be configured to share between different platforms or only available for a specific platform. All of the paid-for virtual currencies (from DLC/IAP) will be automatically added to corresponding sub-wallets by default (PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, Nintendo, Oculus, Google Play, iOS, Epic, Steam, and Twitch).
Permanent Virtual Currency
Permanent Virtual Currency will remain in user wallets permanently and will not expire.
Time-limited Virtual Currency
Time-limited Virtual Currency will expire after the set expired date. When it expires, it will be deducted from the Time-limited Virtual Currency balance. Permanent Virtual Currency balance will not be affected.
Japan-specific policy
Paid-for virtual currency that will expire in 180 days if not used based on Japanese Fund Settlement Law.
Wallet rules
AccelByte Admins are able to credit or debit players' wallets.
There is a difference between the publisher and game namespace wallet. Virtual currencies stored in publisher wallets can be used in both publisher and game namespaces, while virtual currencies stored in wallets under a game namespaces can only be used within the corresponding game namespace.
Wallet service architecture diagram
