Gossip Harbour is a massively-successful game making the leap to alternative app stores, but why?
And what's an alternative app store when it's at home?
- Gossip Harbour is a game you may not play, but most definitely will have seen
- It's one of those sleeper hits your Mum likely plays, and it's certainly raked in the cash
- So why is it going to alternative app stores? And what exactly ARE they? Well, it's complicated
If you've spent long enough on YouTube, and even if you're a die-hard mobile fanatic, you've probably gotten exhausted by some less-than-stellar ads. And one of them that's crossed your desktop might've been for Gossip Harbour, a merge and story-based puzzler. It certainly seems to have worked for them, because Gossip Harbour has raked in over $10m for developer Microfun on Google Play alone.
But that's not what's interesting here, what is interesting is the fact that, off the back of this success, Microfun has partnered with a publisher called Flexion. Not to promote Gossip Harbour further, or expand its reach on Google, but instead to go to what are called "alternative app stores."
If you're not familiar with what an alternative app store is, put simply, any store that isn't on Google Play or iOS App Store. Yes, even stuff you'd think was a major part of this like the Samsung Store you get preinstalled on your phone pales in comparison to these two.
So why's Gossip Harbour going alternative? Well, for one because it's more profitable. And if you've already scrolled this far because you knew the answer, it's also because alternative stores are also set to become a much bigger part of mobile.
Thanks to the recent legal debacle around Google and Apple, there's increasing pressure to destigmatise alternative stores on their devices. Something many, like the Huawei AppGallery, are taking advantage of with things like sales and promotions. And some real big names have already made the jump, like Candy Crush Saga.
So it seems Flexion, and Microfun, are banking on this being the next big thing. And maybe it will be, just depends if it's enough to pull everyone in.
And hey, we're not here to judge quality, but if you're looking for some top puzzlers to play, we've got some suggestions. Dig into our list of the top 25 best puzzle games for iOS and Android to see what we mean!
