There aren't many keener backers of Android than US/Chinese outfit PapayaMobile.

The firm's network on Google's OS – supported by SDKs that enable developers to tap into its 3.5 million strong global userbase – is an important monetisation tool for the platform, enabling studios to implement everything from social gaming features to advertising.

It's a network that remains exclusive to Android, despite the surprising re-release of one of its lead titles – Papaya Farm – on iOS.

Farm fest

As discovered by TechCrunch, the game was previously available on the App Store back in 2009, but was removed from the App Store when the firm's focus shifted to Android,

Offering FarmVille-style gameplay, the title's lifeblood is its virtual currency (otherwise known as Papayas), which is also employed across the firm's first party output.

However, given PapayaMobile's game network as a whole hasn't joined Papaya Farm in making the leap to Apple's platform, just why the firm's freemium flagship has made a reappearance is open to speculation.

Mystery move

It could well be Papaya Farm is either being used as a litmus test for some form of wide scale move onto iOS, or conversely, PapayaMobile is using the release as a poster child for its social functionality, in turn coaxing either existing or virgin Android developers to employ its SDKs in their releases.

The game already boasts 2.5 million monthly active users, 80 percent of which come from Android. However, stats suggest 20 percent of the title's userbase play the game on iPhone, and are presumably comprised from owners of the original app, and those playing via the web.

It's a number that suggests the game has strong potential on Apple's platform – a factor that might have resulted in its conversion.

[source: TechCrunch]