A launch partner for Amazon's Appstore for Android, Korean publisher Gamevil has also been enthusiastic in its support, with six titles available, including the key Baseball Superstars and Zenonia franchises
We caught up with the head of its US office Kyu Lee to get his take on the new opportunities available with Amazon, as well as his opinion on the maturity of the overall Android platform.
PocketGamer: Why do you think the Amazon Appstore is important?
Kyu Lee: Amazon Appstore is important because it helps the Android ecosystem evolve.
The Android platform did not evolve due to Google's efforts alone, but due to the values that the carriers and manufacturers also placed on the table. The carriers provided their best marketing and services and the manufacturers provided their best handsets.
Amazon is great at selling products and it will add a lot of value, along with the many new features that it's added to the store.
Does the ability of Amazon to change the price of your games without your permission worry you?
One of the hardest things as a publisher on open markets is price setting. Amazon has become the master of pricing goods throughout its years of selling online, and we trust it will make right moves.
At the end of the day, Amazon also has goals to keep its customers happy and maximise sales. The earlier content providers may contribute more to building the algorithm for Amazon on best pricing practices than they benefit, but we're more than willing to do so as a partner.
What features do you hope Amazon will add to its appstore?
Amazon has been adding a lot of features, and as a developer we feel that it's listening carefully to what the developers need. As of now, we'd like to see the market expand with more clients pre-installed on devices.
More generally, what's your opinion about the opportunities now available within the wider Android ecosystem?
Android is still a real wild west, and there are lots of revenue opportunities that developers have not yet found.
In-app purchases from Android Market will be a great opportunity for developers due to the piracy issues that the platform has been facing. We're already seeing lots of developers succeed by releasing free rather than paid games, and using ads or alternative billing methods.
Carrier-driven stores have also been proven to do well due to local marketing efforts and ease of purchase through direct carrier billing. Markets that have all of these pieces are already showing extremely strong numbers, and we believe it will happen globally soon. This is exciting news for all the Android developers worldwide.
Thanks to Kyu for his time.
You can see Gamevil's Amazon Appstore portofolio here.
Interview
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
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