A Comprehensive Guide to Releasing Your Game on Amazon Appstore

When we think of the mobile gaming and app market, Google Play and Apple Store are the first names that come to mind. However, there's more to the market than these two giants. Alternative app stores can pose challenges due to our limited familiarity with them. The Amazon Appstore, which comes pre-installed on all Amazon Kindle Fire devices, is one such store. These devices run on Fire OS, a modified version of the Android system. With around 10% of the global market share, or approximately 1 to 1.5 million tablets sold per month, Amazon Appstore is a significant player. Notably, Amazon Kindle Fire tablets are restricted to the Amazon Appstore by default, eliminating competition from other stores. The majority of users, about 80%, are from the US, which is the highest rate among all stores, largely determined by where Amazon tablets are most frequently purchased. In May 2022, Amazon introduced Fire OS 8, based on Android 11, marking a significant update from the previous Fire OS 7, which was based on Android 9. A key consideration for developers is that outdated Android versions are prevalent on Amazon Appstore, necessitating compatibility with older Android versions (Android 6-9). Furthermore, Amazon Appstore does not support Android Bundle, requiring the use of APK instead. This, while not a major issue, is an important consideration during the build preparation process. Another critical aspect is that Amazon tablets lack certain Google Play Services, meaning developers must assess whether their game relies on these services. For instance, features like Google login or in-app review prompts are not supported on Amazon, requiring additional work to adapt the app for release on Amazon Appstore. On a positive note, projects based on Unity can be easily adapted for Amazon Appstore, thanks to Unity's support for the platform and its ready-made solutions. The console statistics on Amazon Appstore are somewhat limited, providing only the number of installs, in-game purchases, and total purchase amounts, which may require more manual data processing. Additionally, some popular analytics services have limited or no support for this platform. Promotional assets like icons, screenshots, and videos can be optimized for consistency with Google Play, reducing the workload for app page preparation on Amazon. Recommended formats include 512x512 for icons, 1920x1080 for screenshots, 1024x500 for feature graphics, and 1920x1080 for videos, all in PNG format. In our experience, promotional assets that perform well on Google Play tend to do well on Amazon Appstore as well. When preparing text metadata, it's essential to remember that it may take a couple of weeks after a new app version is released to analyze the results of the new set of ASO texts. Although text metadata is indexed the next day, it takes about 10 to 14 days to consolidate its position and grow. Unlike Apple's App Store, updating metadata on Amazon Appstore does not require a tech team; it can be done manually, and you can even update metadata without changing the APK version. Unfortunately, Amazon is not supported by popular ASO services, making most of the work manual, such as analyzing search result positions or competitors' graphics. The search results on Amazon Appstore are consistent across both the web version and Amazon devices, allowing you to work efficiently without needing an Amazon device. The store commission fee is 30%, similar to most other stores, but Amazon offers a discount plan for developers with less than $1 million in annual revenue, reducing the fee to 20% and offering bonus points for purchases made through the platform. Monetizing apps through ads or acquiring traffic via ad networks is also feasible on Amazon Appstore, though it's crucial to note that not all ad networks fully support Amazon. From our experience, Amazon is fully supported by Applovin, Adcolony, Chartboost, Fyber, Vungle, and Yahoo, with this list expected to grow. Amazon Appstore has its own ad network, currently supporting banner and interstitial formats for mobile devices. In conclusion, publishing games on Amazon Appstore can be beneficial for both indie developers and established companies looking to scale their products on less crowded markets. To successfully release a game on this platform, it's vital to consider several technical peculiarities and adapt landing page assets. The advantages include a concentrated US audience and lack of competition within the platform, with games proving to be quite popular on Amazon. In some of our projects, we've seen higher engagement from players on this platform compared to others, with products demonstrating great metrics. As Amazon Appstore continues to develop and grow, partly due to increasing support from more companies, it presents a valuable opportunity for game developers.