It may still be only available for residents of the US, but the Amazon Appstore for Android has certainly shaken up the Android ecosystem.
It was the first market to host Angry Birds Rio, and its Paid App for Free Every Day has distributed high quality games for free, driving downloads and visibility.
However, not everyone is happy.
The International Game Developers Association, a grassroots organisation, has released an open letter; what it calls a 'Important Advisory about Amazon's Appstore Distribution Terms'.
Misaligned goals
It claims, "Amazon has little incentive not to use a developer's content as a weapon with which to capture marketshare from competing app stores."
This argument is based on the terms that say Amazon can change the price of apps and games without the publisher's permission. It does guarantee however that it will pay publishers 70 percent of the purchase price or 20 percent of the publisher's preset list price; whichever is greater.
The IGDA also points out that Amazon's terms say "developers cannot set their list price above the lowest list price available or previously available on any similar service," limiting cross-platform business flexibility.
It then goes on to propose five scenarios in which Amazon could use price to its own advantage but perhaps not to the financial benefit of content creators.
Equality
To solve these concerns, the IGDA says Amazon (or any other app store) should be required to seek permission before discounting prices, and that developers should have the freedom to set a minimum list price, without regard to the price of their content in other app stores.
In this way, it calls on Amazon to response to its points, and developers to think carefully before submitting content to its store.
"It would be foolish to assume that because Amazon's Appstore is small today, it will not become the Walmart of the Android ecosystem tomorrow", the IGDA points out, warning that Amazon's terms could be copied more widely by other app stores in time.
[source: IGDA]
News
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.
Top Stories
News
3 hours, 35 minutes ago
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Mobile Games E15 - Star Wars: Hunters finally launches, the West's MOBA problem, and Xbox handheld rumours
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Week in Views - The hunt for the new Star Wars game, Xbox goes handheld, and cats versus monsters…
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Week in Views - The hunt for the new Star Wars game, Xbox goes handheld, and cats versus monsters…
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Metacore's Teppo Soininen: “Anybody who has put a game into soft launch knows there’s still plenty of space for f*ck ups.”
Events
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |
Xbox Games Showcase / [Redacted] Direct | Jun 9th | |
PC Gaming Show 2024 | Jun 9th | |
Steam Next Fest: June 2024 Edition | Jun 10th | |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
GamesForum Hamburg 2024 | Europe | Jun 11th |
ESI London 2024 | Europe | Jun 13th |
Indie Dev Play 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |