Demos from Google Play, data on revenue from games for 2014, a combination of market leaders from Japan - and other news of the week for a mobile developer

Cross-platform tool update on Google Play Game Services

Good news for developers using Google Play Game Services. News with the list of updates:

1. The ability to simultaneously play over the network has been added to the cross-platform C ++ SDK. Thus, the C ++ SDK caught up with the functionality of the Android SDK and iOS SDK.
2. The new-fangled Material Design got to Game Services. The new design will work in games automatically if you have integrated Game Services.
3. Changed the work of quests. Simplified integration of events “task completed”, “task completed”.
4. Statistics of the multiplayer. Now a separate tab with statistics of multiplayer games has appeared in the developer’s console.

Demos may appear on Google Play

It’s not news that the number of downloads of an application depends on its size and that this dependence is the opposite. On Google Play, as in the App Store, there are restrictions on the size of applications that can be downloaded via 3G networks. This means that even if a player is interested in an application that exceeds these restrictions, then he will not be able to download it without wi-fi. These restrictions are still relevant, as in many countries, including Russia, mobile operators provide access to the Internet at a fairly high cost. Moreover, often the connection is not different and stability.

Google is trying to solvethis problem, developing a technology through which users can download a small trial distribution. Upon seeing it, they will decide whether to spend money on additional traffic to download the full version of the program or not. Already now we see many examples of how a developer uploads a version of an application with minimal content and offers to download the rest after familiarizing the player with the start content of the game. All this is implemented by different mechanisms and is done individually for each project. Google Play will provide a tool that everyone can use, and is likely to provide its servers for storing additional content. Let's see what the rules of use will be, do not exclude the possibility that these changes will affect only paid applications.

Mobile games account for 43% of the Latin American game market

Superdata has prepared a report on the digital gaming market in Latin America. According to him, the market will grow to 4.5 billion USD in 2014. According to estimates, the mobile market will account for 43% of this amount; in 2015 they forecast an increase to 5.3 billion USD.

Among all the countries of Latin America, the largest share in the digital games market falls on Brazil, it occupies 35% of the total, followed by Mexico with 22% and Argentina with 15%.



A separate report focuses on Brazil. According to forecasts by Superdata, the mobile games market from 2013 to 2014 will grow by 25% and remain the leader, although the social games market should show the highest dynamics - 35%. If the growth of the mobile market is associated with the advent of cheap smartphones, the rapid growth of social games is provided by a large share of Brazilian Facebook accounts - the third place among all accounts. An increase in the number of localized projects also played a role. The rapid growth of social games will slow down in 2015 to 15%. However, the market has enormous potential.

If you are interested in learning more about Latin America, we recommend that you follow the link and download the full report.

LINE and Gree launch a joint venture

What to do if competition is constantly growing in the mobile games market and in order to launch a successful product, you need to have competencies and capabilities in all aspects of creating games? There are two options: either do everything ourselves (which is expensive, long and risky), or join forces.



A fresh example of the second option was the news that 2 successful Japanese companies are creating a joint company Epic Voyage, Inc, which will develop new games for the Line mobile platform.

The new company will make the most of all opportunities and achievements of Gree in the field of game development and distribution channels of games that Line has. It is expected that the new company will become one of the key players in the mobile gaming market not only in Japan, but also in other countries.

The company is reportedly to be formally established in late October.

Top 100 Games Revenue Countries

NewZoo has presented its Top 100 Countries Revenue Report on Games. The markets of Western Europe (only Italy is knocked out) and North America are already close to saturation and further growth should not be expected from them. But towards the markets of South America and Asia continue to grow.

They have great potential both in terms of population coverage and in terms of increased payments.

China lags behind America in terms of income per user by more than two times, and from Japan by almost four. And there is still a large supply of unreached audience. The situation is similar for other emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico.