Given Apple's action against incentivised downloads platforms in the past, the suggestion studios can now actively buy a spot in the App Store's top 25 rankings will make grim reading for those at the firm's Cupertino HQ.
An annoymous poster on Touch Arcade's forums has alleged an unnamed company is offering developers a guaranteed route to the top of the App Store's charts for $5,000.
It's claimed the company in question utilises bots that downloads a developer's app several times until it breaks into the top 25, gaining the game in question a whole host of exposure in the process.
Crowding out the market
Though details are sketchy, a further source has told Pocket Gamer the story has merit, with the outfit having also been approached by a company that pitched a similar offer to the one outlined on Touch Arcade.
Going further, the anonymous poster went on to claim Crowdstar the studio behind recent female-focused freemium hit Top Girl had already utilised the service.
It's an allegation Crowdstar co-founder Suren Markosian naturally took issue with.
"We all spend hundreds of thousands if not millions promoting our games every month using legitimate advertising channels such as Flurry, Chartboost, iAd, etc," he said.
"While I sympathise with the smaller developers who may not have as much funding as we do and feel that we are getting a free ride the fact is we are spending significant marketing dollars to achieve top ratings."
You can read the full story over on Pocket Gamer.
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Top Stories
News
10 hours, 7 minutes ago
Mobile legend Stumble Guys is now on PlayStation 4 and 5 with cross-progression
Feature
May 14th, 2024
Matej Lančarič's Squad Busters deep dive: Under the skin of 2024's biggest launch yet
Feature
May 14th, 2024
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Popular Stories
News
May 9th, 2024
A third of developers implementing new payment options in face of Digital Markets Act’s $18 billion opportunity
Feature
May 7th, 2024