Posted by Daniel Trócoli Head of Play Partnerships for Games - LATAM
In 2022, we first launched the Indie Games Fund in Latin America as part of our commitment to helping developers of all sizes grow on Google Play. Check out the 10 selected studios who received a share of the fund last year.
Today, we’re bringing back the Indie Games Fund for 2023. We will award $2 million dollars in non-dilutive cash awards in addition to hands-on support, to selected small games studios based in Latin America, helping them build and grow their businesses on our platform.
The program is open to indie game developers who have already launched a game - whether it’s on Google Play or another mobile platform, PC or console. Each selected recipient will get between $150,000 and $200,000 dollars to help them take their game to the next level, and build successful businesses.
Check out all eligibility criteria and apply now. Applications close at 12:00pm BRT September 1, 2023. Priority will be given to applications received by 12:00pm BRT August 16, 2023.
Posted by Allison Chang, Product Manager, Google Play
Last year at Google I/O, we shared some big changes coming to the Play Store for large screen devices. Since then, we’ve seen even more people using large screens for work and play, across millions of active Android devices. Apps and games play a critical role in shaping the on-device experience, so we’ve redesigned the Play Store to help users get the most from their tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables.
Today, we’re introducing four major updates to help users find high-quality large screen apps on Play: refreshed app listing pages, ranking and quality improvements, streamlined store navigation, and a split-screen search experience.
1. Refreshed app listing pages for high-quality apps
Your store listing page is the best way to demonstrate the functionality and value of your app, so we’ve revamped the experience to put your content front and center. Games with high-quality videos will show a video banner at the top of their app listing page, allowing users to get a sense of gameplay in an immersive way. We've also reorganized apps and games details pages in a multi-column layout, bringing more of your content higher up the page.
2. Ranking and quality improvements
To promote high-quality apps that shine on large screens, we’ve made several ranking changes to boost quality across Play. Apps and games that adhere to our large screen app quality guidelines will now be ranked higher in search and Apps and Games Home. This helps users find apps that resize well, aren't letterboxed, and support both portrait and landscape orientations. Editors’ Choice and other curated collections and articles will also consider these criteria going forward, creating new featuring opportunities for optimized apps.
Last year, we also announced app listing warnings and reduced visibility for apps and games that do not meet Play’s per-device technical quality bar. This extends our phone technical quality requirements for phones to large screens, and affects apps and games with an 8% user-perceived crash rate or 8% user-perceived ANR rate on the user’s device.
These warnings will appear on your app details page, with the goal of setting user expectations for how apps will look and function on their devices. We’ll begin rolling out these changes in late August, so there’s still time to use Android vitals in Play Console or the reporting API to monitor and improve your app’s stability metrics.
Finally, to help users better understand the in-app experience up front, we are increasingly featuring your store listing assets directly on Apps and Games Home.
New content forward formats will use form factor specific screenshots, videos, and descriptions to display a preview of the app experience and help users make install decisions. As part of this change, apps with large screen assets that follow our content quality guidelines can take advantage of these richer formats, and will occupy more screen real estate on Play homepages. As you audit your large screen assets, here are some best practices to help your app stand out:
Upload separate screenshots for each form factor. Demonstrate the actual in-app or in-game experience, focusing on the core features and content so users can anticipate what the app or game experience will be like.
Use high-quality images with the proper aspect ratio.
Avoid overloading screenshots with text or time-sensitive copy that requires frequent updates.
We don’t recommend including device imagery, as this can become obsolete quickly or alienate some user groups.
For more tips and guidelines to building high quality apps, visit our quality hub.
3. Streamlined store navigation
For more seamless browsing, we’ve simplified our store navigation and moved to a left-side navigation rail on larger screens. This puts menu items closer to users’ thumbs and makes them more accessible, especially when holding a device in landscape mode.
We’ve also made certain aspects of the store easier to find to help users discover useful and popular apps. For example, we’ve moved the Top Charts and Categories sections to Apps and Games Home. On tablets and Chromebooks, we’ve made the Kids experience a primary tab, since these devices are often shared with children.
4. Split-screen search
Lastly, we’re excited to announce a new search experience that makes it easy to discover and compare apps from within the search results page.
We’re launching a split-screen search experience on large screens, displaying search results and app details pages side by side. This prevents users from switching back and forth when exploring new apps and streamlines the discovery process.
These changes will begin rolling out over the coming weeks, and are just the beginning of our journey in creating a tailored Play Store experience for large screens. For more inspiration and examples of high-quality large screen apps, visit our app design gallery or check out our recent session on app quality from Google I/O.
#WeArePlay is on a virtual world tour: starting first with the U.S. last summer by spotlighting the stories of app and game founders from every state, then visiting India sharing stories from across the country, and more recently visiting Europe by sharing stories from countries across the region.
Today, we’re continuing our tour with one more stop: Japan. From a snowboarding app made by a paralympian, to a game inspired by the enchanting landmarks of Gifu. Discover the people growing apps and games businesses on Google Play.
We’re starting with stories from Chubu, Chugoku & Shikoku and Kinki, with more following throughout the year. Let’s explore some of the stories from across these 3 regions.
Takao Hayashi, founder of Ateam Entertainment
First, Takao Hayashi from Nagoya, Aichi. When Takao’s father sadly passed away when he was only 9 years old, he decided to double down on his hobby of coding and help his family become financially secure. He eventually launched Ateam, and after releasing various apps and games in Japan, his company began to focus on expansion into new markets. Their efforts are paying off, as real-time battle RPG Unison League has become a global hit. The Japanese art in the game has become so popular that some fans have even adopted the style of their favorite characters into their fashion. Next, Takao wants to release new games and reach players in more parts of the world, including India and Latin America.
Keiji Okamoto, founder of yukiyama
Next, Keiji Okamoto from Kobe, Hyogo. Keiji worked hard to pursue his passion for snowboarding all the way to a professional level. However, an accident on the slopes left him with a spinal injury and the news that he might never snowboard again. With his future plans uncertain and hoping to contribute to the sport despite no longer being able to snowboard, Keiji founded yukiyama: a platform where snowsports enthusiasts can access ski resort maps and track their distances down the slopes. Today the app is used all over Japan. The team plans to make it accessible to tourists too by localizing it to other languages. As the app grows, so does Keiji's sports career, who now competes in the Paralympics.
Hitomi Wada, founder of blazeworks
Now, Hitomi Wada from Kakamigahara, Gifu. Hitomi has been a fan of fantasy role-playing games since a friend first introduced her to them as a child. Years later she got inspired to create her own game, Gifu Quest, while exploring the enchanting sights and landmarks of the Gifu prefecture. Players must save all 42 municipalities from ruin and can even play a role in the game’s creation - with some of their photos of Gifu featuring in the game, and many sharing their travels to the places that appear in the game under the hashtag #realgifuquest. Next, Hitomi wants to create new games and eventually feature the whole of Japan.
Masaomi Kurokawa, Managing Director of KEMCO
And last but not least, Masaomi Kurokawa from Kure, Hiroshima. Masaomi’s love of computers and gaming began back in middle school, when his dad bought him his first computer to program. Later, during the mid-2000s, he decided he wanted to revive classic retro games from his childhood. His RPG title Dragon Lapis has a characteristic old-school aesthetic - with dragons, legends and battles, and is hugely popular with fans of the RPG-genre. His nostalgic games have a loyal fanbase both in Japan and overseas. Masaomi has more games in the works and, in the future, wants to take on new challenges like moving into the app space.
#WeArePlay is on a virtual world tour: starting first with the U.S. last summer by spotlighting the stories of app and game founders from every state, then visiting India sharing stories from across the country, and more recently visiting Europe by sharing stories from countries across the region.
Today, we’re continuing our tour with one more stop: Japan. From a snowboarding app made by a paralympian, to a game inspired by the enchanting landmarks of Gifu. Discover the people growing apps and games businesses on Google Play.
We’re starting with stories from Chubu, Chugoku & Shikoku and Kinki, with more following throughout the year. Let’s explore some of the stories from across these 3 regions.
Takao Hayashi, founder of Ateam Entertainment
First, Takao Hayashi from Nagoya, Aichi. When Takao’s father sadly passed away when he was only 9 years old, he decided to double down on his hobby of coding and help his family become financially secure. He eventually launched Ateam, and after releasing various apps and games in Japan, his company began to focus on expansion into new markets. Their efforts are paying off, as real-time battle RPG Unison League has become a global hit. The Japanese art in the game has become so popular that some fans have even adopted the style of their favorite characters into their fashion. Next, Takao wants to release new games and reach players in more parts of the world, including India and Latin America.
Keiji Okamoto, founder of yukiyama
Next, Keiji Okamoto from Kobe, Hyogo. Keiji worked hard to pursue his passion for snowboarding all the way to a professional level. However, an accident on the slopes left him with a spinal injury and the news that he might never snowboard again. With his future plans uncertain and hoping to contribute to the sport despite no longer being able to snowboard, Keiji founded yukiyama: a platform where snowsports enthusiasts can access ski resort maps and track their distances down the slopes. Today the app is used all over Japan. The team plans to make it accessible to tourists too by localizing it to other languages. As the app grows, so does Keiji's sports career, who now competes in the Paralympics.
Hitomi Wada, founder of blazeworks
Now, Hitomi Wada from Kakamigahara, Gifu. Hitomi has been a fan of fantasy role-playing games since a friend first introduced her to them as a child. Years later she got inspired to create her own game, Gifu Quest, while exploring the enchanting sights and landmarks of the Gifu prefecture. Players must save all 42 municipalities from ruin and can even play a role in the game’s creation - with some of their photos of Gifu featuring in the game, and many sharing their travels to the places that appear in the game under the hashtag #realgifuquest. Next, Hitomi wants to create new games and eventually feature the whole of Japan.
Masaomi Kurokawa, Managing Director of KEMCO
And last but not least, Masaomi Kurokawa from Kure, Hiroshima. Masaomi’s love of computers and gaming began back in middle school, when his dad bought him his first computer to program. Later, during the mid-2000s, he decided he wanted to revive classic retro games from his childhood. His RPG title Dragon Lapis has a characteristic old-school aesthetic - with dragons, legends and battles, and is hugely popular with fans of the RPG-genre. His nostalgic games have a loyal fanbase both in Japan and overseas. Masaomi has more games in the works and, in the future, wants to take on new challenges like moving into the app space.
In our latest #WeArePlay stories, meet app and game founders from around the world bringing creative new ideas to their industries. From a mountaineering app that is helping to save lives, to game studios incorporating playful cultural nods and inclusive designs in their titles.
In our latest film, meet Yosihiko from Japan who founded YAMAP - an app for mountain climbers. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, he was inspired to bring people closer to nature and save lives. Despite having no programming experience, he and his team created a platform which enables mountaineers to safely check their location and share their climb activity logs, even when there’s no phone signal. The app has become very popular with climbers, who have also formed a YAMAP community. Yoshihiko also recently partnered with the local government to aid mountain rescues.
Next, Valeria and Álvaro from Spain - founders of Platonic Games. Born in Uruguay, Valeria moved to Spain as a child. Her parents loved video games so she grew up playing them with her family. After studying computer science and traveling the world with her PR job, she transitioned into game development and launched her own studio, Platonic Games, with friend and co-founder Álvaro. Noticing that games for girls were often limited to a handful of genres, the pair decided to design something new for a female audience. Happy Hop is an addictive racing game featuring kawaii-inspired “Miimo” characters.
And now, Olivier from Cameroon - founder of Kiroo Games. Growing up around his father’s video store and a huge collection of science magazines, Olivier was exposed to technology from an early age. So it’s no surprise that he studied computer science and soon began creating PC games. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, he was able to release the African fantasy RPG, Aurion. Partly inspired by Japanese manga, the game is an allegory for geopolitical themes, with players following the King and Queen of Zama as they fight corruption in Aurion. Next, he hopes to transform Aurion into a global African-fantasy gaming brand.
Lastly, Yiwei from Malaysia - founder of Kurechii. He started his career as a web designer, but as a keen gamer himself he soon transitioned into game development and launched his own studio Kurechii. As he watched busy commuters in Tokyo playing on their phone while carrying their briefcases, he got the idea to create a game that could be played single-handedly, but still feature adventurous role playing. In Postknight, players follow a knight as he makes dangerous journeys across the kingdom of Kurestal to deliver parcels. After releasing the popular sequel Postknight 2 with brand new characters, the team are now working to enhance both games, as well as brainstorm ideas for new titles.
Check out their stories now at g.co/play/weareplay and keep an eye out for more stories coming soon.
In our latest #WeArePlay stories, meet app and game founders from around the world bringing creative new ideas to their industries. From a mountaineering app that is helping to save lives, to game studios incorporating playful cultural nods and inclusive designs in their titles.
In our latest film, meet Yosihiko from Japan who founded YAMAP - an app for mountain climbers. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, he was inspired to bring people closer to nature and save lives. Despite having no programming experience, he and his team created a platform which enables mountaineers to safely check their location and share their climb activity logs, even when there’s no phone signal. The app has become very popular with climbers, who have also formed a YAMAP community. Yoshihiko also recently partnered with the local government to aid mountain rescues.
Next, Valeria and Álvaro from Spain - founders of Platonic Games. Born in Uruguay, Valeria moved to Spain as a child. Her parents loved video games so she grew up playing them with her family. After studying computer science and traveling the world with her PR job, she transitioned into game development and launched her own studio, Platonic Games, with friend and co-founder Álvaro. Noticing that games for girls were often limited to a handful of genres, the pair decided to design something new for a female audience. Happy Hop is an addictive racing game featuring kawaii-inspired “Miimo” characters.
And now, Olivier from Cameroon - founder of Kiroo Games. Growing up around his father’s video store and a huge collection of science magazines, Olivier was exposed to technology from an early age. So it’s no surprise that he studied computer science and soon began creating PC games. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, he was able to release the African fantasy RPG, Aurion. Partly inspired by Japanese manga, the game is an allegory for geopolitical themes, with players following the King and Queen of Zama as they fight corruption in Aurion. Next, he hopes to transform Aurion into a global African-fantasy gaming brand.
Lastly, Yiwei from Malaysia - founder of Kurechii. He started his career as a web designer, but as a keen gamer himself he soon transitioned into game development and launched his own studio Kurechii. As he watched busy commuters in Tokyo playing on their phone while carrying their briefcases, he got the idea to create a game that could be played single-handedly, but still feature adventurous role playing. In Postknight, players follow a knight as he makes dangerous journeys across the kingdom of Kurestal to deliver parcels. After releasing the popular sequel Postknight 2 with brand new characters, the team are now working to enhance both games, as well as brainstorm ideas for new titles.
Check out their stories now at g.co/play/weareplay and keep an eye out for more stories coming soon.
Last summer #WeArePlay went on a virtual tour of the U.S. to spotlight the stories of app and game founders from every state, and earlier this year we visited India sharing stories from across the country. Today, we’re continuing our tour across the world with our next stop: Europe. From an app increasing independence for the elderly to a game for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, meet the founders of 126 apps and games companies building growing businesses on Google Play.
Let’s take a quick road trip across the region, with stories of founders that were inspired to create their company to help others around them.
Geert, cofounder of Cubigo
Increasing independence for elderly people
First up is Geert from Belgium, who is the founder of Cubigo. When Geert’s grandmother moved into a nursing home, managing her care felt overwhelming so he used his experience from working in tech to create his app. It’s aimed at elderly people - they can use it to book taxis, days out, order food, schedule appointments and message friends. Family and nursing staff can also stay updated with their plans and activities, so they can provide better assistance. His aim is to give elderly people independence, and Geert hopes Cubigo will become a global player in senior care. Read more stories from Belgium.
Zafer and Sercan, co-founders of Otsimo
Games designed for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
Next up are friends and co-founders Zafer and Sercan from Turkey, who co-founded gaming company Otsimo. As a teen, Zafer got inspiration to create mobile tools for kids with learning difficulties by seeing his autistic brother enjoy playing on his phone. Fast forward to his college years, Zafer and his course mate Sercan made a series of apps aimed at children with delayed speech and developmental disorders. The first, created alongside special needs experts, was Otsimo | Special Education which can be tailored to the individual's requirements. Their apps use voice recognition and machine learning to help children improve their speech, cognitive and social skills, with rewards and stickers to keep it fun. The Otsimo team have just launched a fully customizable Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for non-verbal people of all ages. Read more stories from Turkey.
Maxence and Oxana, co-founders of Appsent
Making home management and cleaning easier for everyone
Last but not least, we have Maxence and Oxana from France, co-founders of Appsent. Maxence and Oxana struggled to keep their house clean when they were both working from home. Sweepy is their solution – it’s a smart home cleaning schedule that assigns household tasks on particular days and for particular people. The couple are really proud that their app has been downloaded by lots of people with autism and ADHD, who tell them that it helps them to manage their homes. They are now developing a points and rewards feature, to try to encourage children to get involved in the housework too. Read more stories from France.
Last summer #WeArePlay went on a virtual tour of the U.S. to spotlight the stories of app and game founders from every state, and earlier this year we visited India sharing stories from across the country. Today, we’re continuing our tour across the world with our next stop: Europe. From an app increasing independence for the elderly to a game for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, meet the founders of 126 apps and games companies building growing businesses on Google Play.
Let’s take a quick road trip across the region, with stories of founders that were inspired to create their company to help others around them.
Geert, cofounder of Cubigo
Increasing independence for elderly people
First up is Geert from Belgium, who is the founder of Cubigo. When Geert’s grandmother moved into a nursing home, managing her care felt overwhelming so he used his experience from working in tech to create his app. It’s aimed at elderly people - they can use it to book taxis, days out, order food, schedule appointments and message friends. Family and nursing staff can also stay updated with their plans and activities, so they can provide better assistance. His aim is to give elderly people independence, and Geert hopes Cubigo will become a global player in senior care. Read more stories from Belgium.
Zafer and Sercan, co-founders of Otsimo
Games designed for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
Next up are friends and co-founders Zafer and Sercan from Turkey, who co-founded gaming company Otsimo. As a teen, Zafer got inspiration to create mobile tools for kids with learning difficulties by seeing his autistic brother enjoy playing on his phone. Fast forward to his college years, Zafer and his course mate Sercan made a series of apps aimed at children with delayed speech and developmental disorders. The first, created alongside special needs experts, was Otsimo | Special Education which can be tailored to the individual's requirements. Their apps use voice recognition and machine learning to help children improve their speech, cognitive and social skills, with rewards and stickers to keep it fun. The Otsimo team have just launched a fully customizable Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for non-verbal people of all ages. Read more stories from Turkey.
Maxence and Oxana, co-founders of Appsent
Making home management and cleaning easier for everyone
Last but not least, we have Maxence and Oxana from France, co-founders of Appsent. Maxence and Oxana struggled to keep their house clean when they were both working from home. Sweepy is their solution – it’s a smart home cleaning schedule that assigns household tasks on particular days and for particular people. The couple are really proud that their app has been downloaded by lots of people with autism and ADHD, who tell them that it helps them to manage their homes. They are now developing a points and rewards feature, to try to encourage children to get involved in the housework too. Read more stories from France.
Posted by Dawid Ostrowski, Developer Relations Program Manager, Android Developer
Welcome to our Google Developer Expert series where we highlight some incredible Android GDEs. Through the series they’ll explain how they became GDEs and what it means to them to be part of the community.
If you tuned in to #TheAndroidShow you may have already spotted some familiar faces as our Google Developer Experts helped introduce the Android GDE community.
In our first short episode we’re excited to reintroduce Madona, a Senior Android Developer from the USA. She shares her journey to becoming a GDE, from her first steps as a developer through to the impact of being a GDE on her career.
Madona used her knowledge of Java to build her first app which led her to the Women Techmakers Academy. Fast forward to today and she is now a professional Android developer and Google Developer Expert.
Over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing more short videos from Android Google Developer Experts as they share their best advice, tips, and experiences as a GDE. Meet the Android GDEs who’ll be sharing their experiences below:
Meet Ahmed, a Software Engineer from the Netherlands. Ahmed will be explaining how the GDE program has grown from its founding days to now.
Meet Zarah, an Android Developer from Australia. Zarah will share her experience as the first woman Android GDE in Australia and how she would encourage more diversity and inclusivity in the Android GDE community.
Meet Annyce, Vice President of Engineering from the USA. She’ll share her top career and life advice for other developers.
Meet Harun, a Software Engineer from Kenya. Harun will share the different routes to becoming a GDE, from contributing to open source to sharing content, there are many ways to share with the Android community.
Last but not least, meet Dinorah, Mobile Lead from Mexico. Dinorah will share how she’s seen the GDE program evolve to help shape the next generation of developers.
Does the community inspire you? Get involved by speaking at your local developer conferences, sharing your latest Android projects, and by not being afraid to experiment with new technology.
Posted by Rejane França, Product Manager and Serge Beauchamp, Software Engineer at Google Play
Last year, we introduced new capabilities for subscriptions on Google Play, giving you more flexibility and control when it comes to growing and retaining your subscribers. The enhanced developer experience enabled by the monetization.subscriptions APIs, separates your subscription products - what you sell - from how yousell them, allowing you to configure multiple base plans and offers for each subscription. The new model is designed to reduce the complexity and overhead of managing your product configuration - this means:
The subscription now defines the benefits and other metadata for the product you are selling, regardless of how the user pays.
Each base plan within a subscription defines the base price for a specific billing period and plan renewal type.
In addition to auto-renewing plans, you can sell prepaid plans that allow users access to pay a fixed amount of time, and then top-up as desired. With prepaid plans, reach users in regions where pay-as-you-go is standard or provide an alternative for users not ready to purchase an auto-renewing plan.
Offers build on the base plan, making it easier to define alternative pricing for eligible users throughout the monetization lifecycle. They can be used to acquire new subscribers, incentivize upgrades, or retain existing subscribers.
Monetization.subscriptions APIs will replace InAppProducts API for subscription catalog management
Starting on January 1, 2024, all new apps must use monetization.subscriptions APIs for managing your subscriptions catalog. Existing apps will have until May 1, 2024 to migrate to the new monetization.subscriptions APIs, at which point support for using the InAppProducts API for managing your subscriptions catalog will end completely.
Starting this month, if we detect that your app has used the InAppProducts API to manage your subscriptions within the last 7 days, you will start seeing a reminder in Play Console to migrate over to monetization.subscriptions APIs.
Additionally, if your app is not using the latest version of Play Billing Library, you’ll need to upgrade to version 5.0 or later before November of this year in order to publish updates to your app.
If you continue to use the InAppProduct API while support is still available, the subscription SKUs you create will be automatically converted into the new model following the backward compatible structure represented below with limited access to new features. Learn more about converted subscriptions here.
New model separates your subscription products – what you sell – from how you sell them.
No changes to selling in-app items with the InAppProducts API
This deprecation will only impact the InAppProducts API when used to manage your subscription product catalog in Play Console. All apps can continue using the InAppProducts API to manage one-time products. The Play Billing Library and Subscription Purchase APIs will not be impacted. Note that both InAppProducts API and monetization.subscriptions APIs are for managing your subscription catalog on Play from your backend, and should not be called directly as part of any in-app flows.
Start your migration to the monetization.subscriptions APIs
If you use the Google Play Developer API client libraries - available for Java, Python, and other popular languages - we recommend upgrading to the latest versions, which already include the monetization.subscriptions APIs. Base plans can be managed with the monetization.subscription.basePlans API, and introductory pricing and free trials can be managed as offers with the monetization.subscriptions.basePlans.offers API.
Posted by Daniel Trócoli Head of Play Partnerships for Games - LATAM
Posted by Allison Chang, Product Manager, Google Play
Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing
Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing
Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing
Posted by Dawid Ostrowski, Developer Relations Program Manager, Android Developer
Posted by Rejane França, Product Manager and Serge Beauchamp, Software Engineer at Google Play
