An Insider's Guide to Successfully Publishing on Amazon Appstore

When discussing the mobile gaming and app market, Google Play and Apple Store are often the first to come to mind, but the market extends far beyond these two. Dealing with alternative app stores can pose challenges due to our limited familiarity with them. The Amazon Appstore, which comes pre-installed on Amazon Kindle Fire devices, is one such store. These devices run on Fire OS, a modified version of the Android system. With Amazon tablets holding around a 10% market share, equivalent to 1 to 1.5 million devices sold each month, it's an audience worth considering. Notably, Amazon Kindle Fire tablets are exclusively tied to the Amazon Appstore, eliminating competition from other stores. The user base is predominantly US-based, with 80% of users hailing from the United States, a demographic influenced by the primary markets for Amazon tablet sales. In May 2022, Amazon announced the launch of Fire OS 8, based on Android 11, marking an upgrade from the previous Fire OS 7, which was based on Android 9. A crucial factor to consider when deciding to publish on Amazon Appstore is the prevalence of older Android versions. Ensuring your app's compatibility with these versions, specifically Android 6-9, is essential. Another distinction is Amazon Appstore's lack of support for Android Bundle, necessitating the use of APK instead. Although not a significant issue, it's a critical consideration during the build preparation process. Additionally, Amazon tablets do not come with certain Google Play Services, so assessing whether your game relies on these services is vital. Features like Google login or in-app review prompts won't be available, requiring additional work to adapt your app for Amazon Appstore. On the positive side, projects based on Unity can be easily adapted for Amazon Appstore, thanks to Unity's support for the platform and its ready-made solutions. However, the console statistics on Amazon Appstore are somewhat limited, only providing install numbers, in-app purchase volumes, and total purchase amounts, which may require more manual data processing. Furthermore, some popular analytics services either don't support Amazon Appstore or offer only partial support. Promotional assets like icons, screenshots, and videos can be designed to be consistent with those on Google Play, avoiding duplicated effort. Recommended resolutions include 512x512 for icons, 1920x1080 for screenshots, 1024x500 for feature graphics, and 1920x1080 for videos, all in PNG format. In our experience, assets that perform well on Google Play tend to do equally well on Amazon Appstore. When preparing text metadata, keep in mind that it may take a couple of weeks after a new app version's release to see the full impact of new ASO texts, as metadata is indexed quickly but takes time to consolidate its position. All metadata is uploaded with a new app version, similar to Apple App Store's process, but without the need for a technical team to handle the release. Unfortunately, Amazon isn't supported by most ASO services, necessitating manual work for tasks like analyzing search result positions or competitor graphics. Search results are consistent across the web version and Amazon devices, so you can efficiently work with the store by accessing it through amazon.com. The store commission fee is 30%, similar to other major stores, but Amazon offers a discount plan for developers earning less than $1 million annually, reducing the fee to 20% and providing bonus points for development services. Monetizing your app through ads or acquiring traffic via ad networks is feasible on Amazon Appstore, though some ad networks may not fully support the platform. Amazon has its own ad network, currently supporting banner and interstitial formats for mobile devices. In conclusion, publishing on Amazon Appstore can be beneficial for both indie developers and larger companies looking to expand beyond established markets. To succeed, it's crucial to consider the technical peculiarities and adapt your landing page assets accordingly. The platform's advantages include a concentrated US audience and lack of in-platform competition, with games proving particularly popular on Amazon, sometimes showing higher engagement and better metrics than on other stores. As Amazon Appstore continues to develop and grow, partly due to increasing corporate support, it presents a valuable opportunity for game developers.