July 14, 2026
Transsion Palmstore: Africa's default channel for mobile games
Transsion's Tecno, Infinix and itel brands took 48% of African smartphone shipments in 2025. Palmstore is their built-in store — the distribution playbook for studios.
Field notes.
Notes from the field on alternative app stores, OEM channels, telecom distribution, web-native formats and everything else that sits outside the standard route to market for mobile games.
July 7, 2026
Aptoide on iOS: the first third-party marketplace with native IAP
Aptoide is the first Apple-approved third-party iOS marketplace with native IAP, at 10-20% vs 30%. What its model means for EU game publishers.
July 2, 2026
Google Play Fees 2026: Registration, Service & Billing Costs
Google Play's 2026 fee stack: the $25 registration fee, service fee tiers, India/Korea alternative billing rates, and the real subscription cost.
June 30, 2026
A multi-channel game distribution framework for mid-size studios
A practical game distribution framework for building a multi-channel stack: layer stores, OEM, carrier billing and web-native, and sequence them by studio stage.
June 25, 2026
Japan MSCA app store rules: the distribution opening to watch
Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) forces open third-party app stores and payments on iOS and Android. Why studios outside the EU should care.
June 23, 2026
How to land an OEM preload deal as a mid-size studio
Preload deals look enterprise-only, but mid-size studios close them every quarter. Who to talk to inside an OEM, what they actually want, and the deal structures that get signed.
June 18, 2026
Carrier billing in India, Africa & LATAM: the 2026 reach map
Where direct carrier billing unlocks paying players that cards can't reach. A region-by-region reach map for publishers: India, Africa, LATAM, with APAC as the benchmark.
June 16, 2026
Games-only app stores: what Skich and Onside mean for publishers
Skich and Onside are betting that a games-only app store beats a general-purpose marketplace for discovery. What that means for publishers in 2026.
June 9, 2026
Epic Games Store mobile: get listed before self-publishing
Epic Games Store mobile is opening to self-publishing at 0%/12% fees. A publisher's guide to qualifying, prepping builds, and how it compares to the App Store.
June 5, 2026
CPI is up 47% in Europe: the case for distribution beyond paid UA
Blended gaming CPI is up ~30% year-on-year and 47% in Europe, while 95% of installs churn in 30 days. The buy-growth playbook is broken — here's the distribution alternative.
June 5, 2026
What the Core Technology Fee actually costs an EU studio
Apple's Core Technology Fee is €0.50 per first annual install above one million. Apple estimates under 1% of developers pay it. Here's whether your studio is one of them.
June 5, 2026
Why carrier billing converts where cards fail
Juniper Research sizes direct carrier billing at $51 billion in 2026. Why DCB converts where cards fail, where it wins, and what integrating it involves.