terça-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2011

Publishing an Android Game: Android Market and SlideME

Where dreams get made and dreams get destroyed.

Let's first talk about the big fish:

Google's Android Market

So, if you've been following my guide and made a libGDX game, you could put it on the Android Market. If you're willing to pay 25 dollars. Yes, there's a fee involved, that can be a big turnoff for many people. I paid the fee .Sometimes I wish I didn't, because there are some alternatives to the Android Markets and they may even be more profitable than it.
Android Market. Pretty, huh?

Anyways, if you wanna pay the fee, you need a Google Merchant account. If you wanna to charge for stuff instead of giving away your games for free( I do that... ), you MAY need an AdSense account too. That depends on your country. My country, Brazil, totally required an AdSense account so I had to write a blog to get one. The one you're reading right now, actually.

I don't really have all that much to add about the Android Market. I always find it a pain to prepare all of the promotional images, banners and icons, so you should take care of that before hand. You also need to sign the app, which Eclipse makes it easy.

Some google information on getting ready to publish:
Preparing to Publish

Some images you need are a Icon of 512x512 and, optionally, a promotional banner of 1024x500 and a promotional image of 180x120. You can put up a video on youtube if you want to, so you can link it in your Android app page.

Try to really describe the best points of your application in the description, instead of just throwing around random key words. Try to use good key words but wrapped in a text that makes sense. Sorta.

Remember that if you set your app to paid in the Android Market, you can't change it to free. The opposite is also true. That can be bad.

So, let's talk about a friendlier alternative

SlideME

SlideME is free, fast to register and requires less images than Android Market. So it's much faster to upload your app there and less painful too.
SlideME is pretty too, huh?
 
It takes less than 5 minutes to upload your app there, seriously. But there is a screening process, I'm waiting on that right now, actually, for my new game, Dream Catcher.

I'll talk about how that goes later!

More markets out there?
Of course there are! But up so far I've explored only those two, I'll give my insight on more later!
Some more alternatives from the Trilena Blog!

Make a game, publish a game, do it now! Don't procrastinate!

EDIT: As soon as I uploaded my APP, I came here to write this post. As soon as I was done writing it, my APP got accepted. That's fast. Go SlideME!

3 comentários:

  1. I personally prefer SlideMe for publishing content. Its a great place. I submitted 'Beacon - Find My Droid' in SlideMe and once approved app status is up-to date and is receiving even better than Android Market. I also wonder if the 25$ I gave to Google is a waste.

    ResponderExcluir
  2. I appreciate you taking the time to put this blog piece together. I once again find myself spending way to much time both reading and commenting. What ever, it was still worth it !

    ResponderExcluir