News

Evolve London 2011: Google's Paul Kinlan on why iOS and Android developers should also be targeting the Chrome web store

#evolveconf 200 million users, 95:5 revenue share

Evolve London 2011: Google's Paul Kinlan on why iOS and Android developers should also be targeting the Chrome web store
There are plenty of app stores, so what's the point of Google's Chrome web store?

On one level, of course, it's just another place to find web apps and games, albeit one that's built directly into the Chrome browser.

But according to Paul Kinlan, one of Google's developer advocates, "With 200 million users, it's a great channel for distribution."

Indeed, in his talk - 'Taking advantage of the Chrome web store to distribute web games' - at the Evolve London 2011 conference, he revealed that according to developer WGT, Chrome users of its World Golf Tour web game played 23 percent more and spent 147 percent more than average players

Get your 95:5 rev split here

And Google is certainly getting aggressive about the opportunity.

It's rolling out a payment platform - US-only at present - which includes monthly and annual subscriptions options, well as the usual paid and in-app purchases. Google takes 5 percent of this revenue.

Something else that's different with the Chrome web store is the feedback mechanism; you have to logged into Google to install an app, enabling direct communication between player and developer (unlike with the Apple App Store).

"Giving developers the ability to respond to feedback is something new for Chrome and isn't on other stores. It's a really powerful thing," Kinlan said.

Other ways that Google is looking to build out the store is through tools that can convert native iOS and Android games into a Chrome-friendly format.

In the case of Android, Google itself is developing the Playn platform, although it requires you to have developed your Android app in a particular manner.
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.