Right Here, Right Now. Why we’re backing Appcharge

We are on the precipice of a revolution in the mobile gaming industry as the duopoly that Apple and Google has over application stores is likely brought to an end by lawsuits or regulation. Since app stores emerged in 2008/9, Apple and Google have tightly controlled both the distribution of apps and payments. For many mobile game publishers, the 30% take rate that Apple and Google enforce on in-app purchases is their largest cost center, bigger than R&D, bigger than marketing spend. 

We saw the impact of this firsthand through Creandum’s early investment in Spotify. Due to label agreements and business model, paying 30% to Apple and Google is impossible for a company like Spotify. To avoid “the app store tax”, Spotify customers could only subscribe to the premium service via the website but the app could make no mention of this, hindering Spotify’s ability to market its premium service to mobile only users. What’s more, Apple directly competed with Spotify via its Apple Music service.

Now, thanks to the crusade by companies like Spotify and Epic Games, the Google and Apple duopoly is starting to crumble.  Regulations, like the Digital Markets Act, are forcing them to open up to third parties for both distribution and payments, benefitting all mobile app developers. In the US, similar trends are in the making with the proposed Open App Markets Act and the very current Epic vs Google case.

Another important trend impacting this industry and pushing for the “why now”,  is the increasing cost of user acquisition. In April 2021, Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency framework on iOS 14.5, which allows users to opt out from being tracked by advertisers on mobile. This has made it significantly harder and more expensive for apps to reach the right users. This also coincides with the growing efforts of browsers to block third-party cookies, all of which serves to make marketing attribution harder and more expensive. 

Higher Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) mean less profitability for game developers. And with more maneuverability around the app stores, a solution may be in sight…enter Appcharge.

Appcharge is an all-in-one monetization platform for mobile game publishers to build direct relationships with their users. The platform allows game developers to quickly and easily build fully branded web stores that look and feel like the native game. Moreover, inside these stores, users are offered highly personalized and targeted offers based on exactly where they are in the gameplay, as well as geographically. More than 500 payment methods are seamlessly integrated into the checkout experience. Paying 5% rather than 30% means that Appcharge’s customers gain a dramatic margin lift as well as a direct relationship with their customers for communications and loyalty programs. 

Appcharge has seen incredible momentum in a very short period of time, signing up major game studios, including Huuuge Games, AppLovin, and Product Madness, and already processing more than $200m per year.

The team are real gaming industry insiders, including veterans from Rovio, Huuuge Games, Moon Active, Playstudios, and others. They are bold and move fast with a global mindset that has already seen them expand to major gaming hubs in the US, Asia and Europe. Their powerful product is driving stellar results for their customers, with conversion and retention rates orders of magnitude better than app store averages.  

The combination of regulatory pressure on the app store duopoly and more challenging user acquisition environment creates a perfect storm of opportunity for Appcharge. In App Purchases (IAP) on the app stores is projected to be $197B this year and billions of dollars is about to be moved direct to game developers and app publishers. The time is now where Appcharge is the Robinhood who will lead a revolution, moving big $ from the giants of Apple and Google, into the hands of developers and app creators. LFG!!!