A slight against Android Market and a sign of the faith in free app store GetJar, Digital Chocolate's decision to debut its Android releases on the independent app store rather than on Android Market is far from surprising.

 

Indeed, the publisher's decision comes on the back of similar moves made by Rovio with Angry Birds and Zynga with Mafia Wars, amongst others. When it comes to pushing free titles on Android, Google's marketplace would appear to be losing out.

Fighting fitMaking the leap to GetJar – and, in fact, already available – are city builder Millionaire City and stat fest MMA Pro Fighter.

Both titles lend themselves to GetJar's set up, given they've adopted the freemium model and have previously made their name on Facebook – Millionaire City proclaimed as the second fastest growing game on the network in 2010.

However, according to Digital Chocolate COO Jason Loia, what sealed the deal was the visibility the publisher believes its titles will be afforded on GetJar.

"Bringing our hugely popular social games to Android made a lot of sense as consumers take to the Android platform in droves," he said.

"We decided to launch our games on GetJar because of their proven ability to market apps and games to consumers, their understanding of the space and their willingness to work closely with publishers to build awareness of their content."

Markeplace momentum

It's a view naturally backed up by GetJar CMO Patrick Mork, who believes the marketplace offers publishers the chance of greater success on Google's platform because it can call on a sizeable and, most importantly, loyal Android consumer base.

"As Android booms and the market for apps becomes increasingly difficult for consumers to navigate, we recognise that marketing apps has never been more challenging," said Mork.

"GetJar's focus and expertise in marketing apps using PR, our 60 plus partner channels and other above the line marketing campaigns ensures that the few publishers we partner with really get massive exposure for their content.”

GetJar claims to be on of the fastest growing marketplaces serving Android, with downloads up 500 percent since April 2010.

It's also paying some publishers to launch on its marketplace, although it's not clear if that's the case here.