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How to make a mobile game profitable – without Apple & Google

game profitable

Remember when you were a kid and everybody told you what to do? When everything around you was bigger and restrictive – when you had no power over what you really wanted to do? When you could not yet be your own person, the master of your destiny?

Well, that’s what many games companies and developers feel when they try to deal with the twin 800 pound gorillas of distribution – Google Play and the iOS App Store. They are simply at the mercy of the big twins.

Up until recently, those two, could decide the fate of your product. And they made sure that they had no competition. They divided the world between them – but sad news for everyone else.

From developers to consumers, everyone had less choice. Less freedom, less innovation, more trouble, higher costs – the inevitable price of a non-competitive market.

Change is in the air

Now, things are starting to change. Today, it is clear that the future won’t be dictated anymore by the whims of the twins. More and more companies and developers are finding the audacity to look for alternatives.

They began to understand that it is their very survival, their very security, the viability and success of their products. Their personal creations, their businesses that are at risk.

That’s what happens when you are forced to put your fate in the hands of a highly constraining third party duopoly.

The controllers are losing control

And that’s why we launched Catappult. To free Android developers and help them on their way to an unchained, more profitable future.

At the same time we arrived on the market advocating – and, more importantly, facilitating it with our distribution platform and tools. For openness and greater opportunities for game developers. Epic Games’ well-publicized war of independence from Apple was another first step by a major player.

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Others then started to realize that they too could have freedom and power. Which means, the controllers are finally losing control.

Opening the future

The road is coming into view: no more excessive gatekeeper power in the hands of the very few. No more predatory rules and fees, no more unnecessary costs for consumers.

Instead of living by the unstable moods of the big twin stores, what you need is a platform designed to help companies and developers. To help them distributing their games to various app stores and other global channels.

A distribution platform that, with a single submission, once and for all stores, gives you instant freedom of choice. And, of course, the tools to play for the world’s attention.

A platform like Catappult.

Catappulting into global focus

OK, you now have your games in multiple stores and you want people to know about them. First of all, by using Catappult you are immediately distributed, not to the red ocean of a generalist marketplace. But to stores that want games such as yours. Because their users look for games exactly like yours.

They get extra visibility and access to new users without having to pay for Google, Apple and Facebook ads. This allows developers to expand their audiences and their organic downloads. But also to work with stores like Aptoide, OPPO, Xiaomi and many others. Stores that are much more likely to collaborate with them, and to have niche focused material.

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Plus, via our AppCoins Wallet, we use gamification, perks, promo codes and influencer partnerships.

A much better deal

With Catappult you get a much better deal. We help Android gaming companies and developers to set their own distribution and promotion strategy. And to declare independence from the twin gorillas. You control your own distribution and connect with more than 10 app stores and local markets around the world. And this accounts for over 430 million worldwide users.

Then we make sure that up to 85% of the in-app purchases go to you. We believe that developers should get more than the standard revenue split. And that it should be immediately available in your account.

And let’s not forget that our fraud protection is best-in-class. We have a dedicated team that works on multiple fraud systems for our main payment methods.

The alternative IS the reality

For games companies and developers, this alternative store ecosystem is key. It’s based on openness and autonomy, with greater profitability opportunities. In the end, every developer may have distinct needs, may be bigger or smaller. But they all want people to play their game, and they all want to earn money from their work.

Catappult is both a facilitator and a driver to a new era of openness and cooperation. A place where companies and alternative app stores work together, liberated from the old-style duopoly, and building a more just, more diverse market for all players.

Does your business need the future?

In this emerging reality of an increasingly open market, and with Catappult’s vision and tools, creators and developers flourish. They can take advantage of improved apps discoverability and new monetization models. But also of a better local payment support and smarter user-acquisition options.

Do you want freedom and power? Join us on this fairer, richer, thrilling journey. (Seriously, how could you not?)

A future where the world is shaped in a way that says – in both senses – Let’s play together.

*Updated on December 29th, 2022.

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