Appchemy – The Saviour of Mobile Games?

The mobile applications market has been heating up really well. Based on recent numbers, Apple’s app store has over 100,000 apps and still counting. The Android Market hasn’t peaked to such levels yet, but it is definitely heading in the right direction for now. Most iPhone and Android games come with a free (usually referred to as Lite) version of the app, so that users can try the game before buying. From my chat with Alvin Yap, CEO of TheMobileGamer, I learned that users who have tried the free version of the app are more likely to pay for the full version, which makes a whole lot of sense.

Unfortunately for Java games this is not the case, as mentioned by Alvin, “.. for Java, developers are less interested in creating lite apps”. Though most developers are ditching Java in favor of the iPhone, companies like GlobalFun and IndiaGames are still pushing strong with Java games. What this means is that developers are missing out on consumers who would like to try the game before buying. Here’s where Appchemy comes in.

Appchemy provides a set of tools that wraps around games and allows developers to effectively distribute and sell their games. The wrapper only works with J2ME for now, but support for iPhone and Android games will be released soon. These tools will (1) allow users to try the game before buying, (2) provide viral distribution functionalities to the games, (3) up-selling functionalities and (4) analytics.

While the tool provides a bucket list of features, it does not make any alteration to the in-game functionalities and no additional coding is required on the developers end.

Trying Before Buying
I don’t usually buy games unless (a) I have played a trial version before, (b) I have played a full version on another friend’s phone or (c) the game is so highly rated and talked about that I just got to have it. Though I don’t have the official numbers for this, I believe most people fall in one of the above scenarios. Developing a free version of an app costs time and money and based on the complexity of the apps, that could amount to dedicating a few weeks to a month, just to get a free app out. Hence, to me, it makes perfect sense to provide tools to developers so that their users can try games before buying them.

Viral Distribution and Up Selling
Making it more compelling for users, by allowing them try the game before buying, is great. But distribution is key here. And with the “try before you buy” feature, the distribution problem is not addressed. That is why Appchemy has viral distribution and up selling features to help developers distribute the games. Users will be provided with recommendations of other games (up-selling) based on the games they have played before. So if you’re a sports fan, you will be recommended a variety of other sports games to download and try. The analytics features provided in the Appchemy package will help developers better target their audience and understand their users. The viral distribution features will allow the activities performed by the users to be shared on social networks such as Facebook, thus widening the distribution of the games. In my opinion, these are the key features offered by Appchemy. In today’s crowded social gaming space, distribution is essential in getting your game out to a wide audience and for independent and smaller developers, this will be the main reason why they will want to wrap their games with Appchemy.

Conclusion
Their current business model, which is to take only 10% of every app sold, will be very attractive to developers, so getting developers to use Appchemy will not be an issue. Though the product is still in private beta, this promising startup is already in talks with gaming companies in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Time will tell if Appchemy is really a savior to mobile games.