1）Distimo最近发布针对亚马逊Appstore的报告显示，今年3月份美国亚马逊Appstore前200名免费应用下载量为1600万次，其中下载量占比最高的是游戏，最为领先的是Imangi Studios游戏《Temple Run 2》。在下载量排名最靠前的10款应用中，有8款是游戏产品，其余两款是Netflix和Facebook。

Google Play的免费应用装载量远高于亚马逊Appstore，其美国下载量将近亚马逊Appstore的10倍。例如，Halfbrick Studio游戏《水果忍者免费版》在亚马逊免费应用中位列第9名，下载量却比在Google Play少9.1倍（该游戏3月份在Google Play中下载量为230万次，在亚马逊Appstore则仅为25万次）。

从亚马逊Appstore前200名付费应用情况来看，Mojang游戏《Minecraft – Pocket Edition》（6.99美元）位居3月份美国榜单第一名。但在这两个应用商店的前1000名付费应用榜单中，Google Play的付费下载量仅比亚马逊多2倍左右。Imangi Studios另一款游戏《Temple Run:Oz》在亚马逊应用商店排名第五，在Google Play下载量超过14万次，但在亚马逊中仅为4.2万次，两者之间相差3.4倍。

Google Play付费下载量约为亚马逊Appstore的两倍，这两者之间的收益差距更小。Google Play前200名付费应用在该时期收益为510万美元，是亚马逊Appstore的1.7倍。

Rovio是亚马逊Appstore免费应用下载量最高的发行商，它在亚马逊下载量最高的作品是最新游戏《The Croods》（位列第6名）。

2）App Annie针对1500多名开发者的调查发现，22.5%受访者目前正向亚马逊Appstore发布内容，半数受访者称游戏是其在该应用商店的主要收益增长动力。

此前曾有调查显示，亚马逊Appstore的每用户平均收益（ARPU）高于Google Play甚至是iOS平台，例如TinyCo公司就曾在去年夏季指出，其在亚马逊ARPU值高于iTunes和Google Play。但Flurry报告则认为，iTunes的ARPU位列第一，亚马逊排名第二，并指出iOS每赚到1美元，亚马逊Appstore只能赚到0.89美元，Google Play仅为0.23美元。

App Annie还发现iOS和Google Play的热门付费应用平均售价均高于亚马逊，例如在前400名热门付费应用中，亚马逊平均售价为1.73美元，iPhone版本为2.21美元，iPad版本为3.39美元，Google Play为3.55美元。

目前亚马逊Appstore仅向7个国家开放服务，Google Play则覆盖了132个国家/地区，iOS覆盖155个国家/地区。

这些开发者面向亚马逊Appstore发布应用的主要原因包括：1）他们原本就已开发Android应用，因此很容易向亚马逊移植产品；2）他们认为亚马逊Appstore的市场份额还会增长；3）他们相信Kindle Fire将成为领先的设备。

3）Flurry最近报告指出，在“黄金时间”（包括“下班后”的晚上7点至10点），使用iOS和Android前250名热门应用的用户达到5200万。

应用使用率在午夜下滑迅速，而在周末白天（早上9点至下午5点）相对较高。在平时上班时间，人们的应用使用率至少是周末时间的75%左右。

Flurry指出，如此之众的用户规模，几乎是三个黄金时段收视率最高的电视节目一周的观众，以及美国200份最大报纸的周末发行量。

报告还指出，使用传统媒介接触18-49岁年龄层的用户将愈加困难，因为这一群体已经转向了数字媒体。Flurry还引用摩根斯坦利报告指出，自2002年以来电视观众收视率已经下降了50%左右。

4）IDC最新报告预测，到2013年底，手机和平板电脑游戏付费玩家数量将超过主机游戏设备上的付费玩家，未来5年移动游戏玩家数量仍将持续增长。

与此同时，主机设备出货量每年将下降近7%，但在2017年以前，3DS和Vita等主机在每用户平均收益（ARPU）上仍将持续领先。

5）据gamasutra报道，EA日前通过其新闻博客The Beat宣布公司将进行一轮裁员，但并未透露具体裁员人数。

不过据知情者透露，现在有10%的成员已经被失业，EA主管外部开发游戏的发行部门EA Partners仍将持续运作，但有传闻称该工作室现已停工。

6）Juniper Research最近报告预测，到2017年手机和平板电脑每年游戏下载量将增长至641亿次，是2012年下载量的3倍。

随着智能手机和平板电脑性能更为强大，投放到主机、PC、手机和平板电脑等设备的云游戏也将日益增长。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Distimo takes a deep dive into the Amazon Appstore, compares to Google Play

Scott Reyburn

Distimo logoDistimo’s latest report takes a deep dive into the Amazon Appstore, taking a look at the top apps and publishers in terms of estimated daily downloads and one-off revenues in
the app store. The report also takes a look at the differences and similarities between the Amazon Appstore, a third-party app store for the Android platform, and Google Play.

App tracking company Distimo kicked off its April report by revealing that the top 200 free apps on the U.S. Amazon Appstore saw a total of 16 million downloads in March. Similarly to the

Apple App Store and Google Play, the most downloaded genre of apps were games, with Imangi Studios’ Temple Run 2 leading the way as the most downloaded free app. Also, eight of the top 10 most downloaded apps were games, with Netflix and Facebook as the two non-game apps.

As expected, the amount of device installs for free apps in Google Play is significantly higher compared to the Amazon Appstore. The Dutch firm adds that Google Play is approximately 10
times larger than the Amazon Appstore in the U.S. For example of the disparity between the two app stores, Developer Halfbrick Studios’ Fruit Ninja Free, which is ranked No. 9 in the

Amazon Appstore among the top free apps, was downloaded 9.1 times less than in Google Play, which translates to 2.3 million installs from Google Play and 250,000 from the Amazon App Store in March.Distimo April 2013 report chart

Moving on to the top 200 paid apps in the Amazon Appstore, according to Distimo’s data, the company saw 1.6 million downloads, which earned $3 million from one-off fees. Mojang’s

Minecraft – Pocket Edition ($6.99) claimed the No. 1 position among the top paid apps in the U.S. in March. Although there’s a stark difference between the Amazon Appstore and Google Play
when it comes to free apps, paid apps is a different story. Looking at the top 1000 paid apps on both stores, the number of paid downloads is only about twice the size in Google Play.

Distimo singled out another Imangi Studios title in Temple Run: Oz, which was ranked No. 5 on the Amazon Appstore amid the top paid apps. The game was downloaded 3.4 times less in the

Amazon Appstore than in Google Play, which when broken down has more than 140,000 installs in Google Play and 42,000 in the Amazon Appstore.Distimo April 2013 report chart

While Distimo reported that the number of paid downloads for Google Play is roughly twice the size of the Amazon Appstore, when it comes to revenues, the difference is even smaller. The top
200 paid apps in Google Play made $5.1 million, which equated to Google Play being 1.7 times bigger than the Amazon Appstore.

Looking at the bigger picture in terms of who the top developers were on the Amazon Appstore based on downloads of free apps, Angry Birds developer Rovio was the top publisher, with its
latest game The Croods (No. 6) leading the way, which also ranked in the top 10 free apps.

U.S. Amazon Appstore data for Distimo’s April report was collected in March 2013. It should be noted that Distimo also plans to add Amazon Appstore data to its analytics product AppiQ,
which allows its customers to see how many downloads and how much money almost any Android, iOS, and soon Amazon Appstore, app makes. Also, note that Distimo’s estimates are based on the ranking per app store. Due to the differences among the Amazon Appstore and Google Play, Distimo reports device installs for Google Play and user downloads for Amazon Appstore.

The Netherlands-based company, which was founded in 2009, concluded that the Amazon Appstore is rapidly growing over the last year, and could become a significant competitor to Google Play.

As noted earlier, the Amazon Appstore and Google Play are already seeing similar download and revenue figures for paid apps.（source:insidemobileapps）

2）Reports Detail Amazon Appstore’s Growing Influence, Revenue Potential

Sarah Perez

Amazon doesn’t share details on how well its Amazon Appstore apps sell, but according to mobile app analytics firm App Annie, the app marketplace is seeing growing traction among developers. The company surveyed over 1,500 developers, and found that 22.5 percent of them were now publishing to the Amazon Appstore, and half of that group (50 percent) cited the game category on the Amazon Appstore as their leading revenue driver.

Previous reports have confirm roughly the same thing: that Android developers are turning to Amazon’s Appstore in greater numbers, and are seeing the benefits. Amazon Appstore’s revenue per user tops that of Google Play, or even iOS, in some cases. Last summer, for example, mobile gaming startup TinyCo, was saying that its revenue per user was higher on Amazon than on iTunes or Google Play. However, another report from Flurry said that iTunes was number one, and Amazon was in second place in terms of its revenue generation capabilities. Flurry had found that for every $1 spent on the iOS store, Amazon’s store generated $0.89, and Google Play $0.23.

But this was over a year ago; App Annie itself said this month that Apple’s was still the store to beat, in terms of revenue.

Today’s report also found that top paid iOS and Google Play applications have higher average price points than those on Amazon. Comparing the average price of the top 400 paid apps, the
company noted that Amazon’s average was $1.73 compared with $2.21 on iPhone, $3.39 on iPad, and $3.55 on Google Play.

However, it might be a little early to paint such a rosy picture, depending on whose data you believe more. For instance, App Annie competitor Distimo also released a report this month,
examining similar trends among the two leading Android app marketplaces. Its findings were a bit different.

Although it too saw Amazon’s influence growing, it found that overall, Google Play was still beating on revenue. Distimo said that the number of paid downloads in Google Play is twice the
size of paid downloads on Amazon, but the revenue gap was smaller. According to its analysis, the top 200 paid applications in Google Play in the U.S. made $5.2 million in March 2013,
making Google Play 1.7 times bigger than the Amazon Appstore by revenue.

However, that report noted that there were some examples of applications that did better on Amazon, which essentially backs up the broad strokes of what App Annie is saying here. Simply
put, for some developers, Amazon is proving more successful than Google Play, and its potential is growing as Amazon’s store scales.

Also in the new report, 56 percent of the developers App Annie surveyed were said to focus on gaming, and over half (51 percent) said they decided to publish on Amazon because of how easy
it was to port apps. Other top reasons included a belief that Amazon’s Appstore marketshare would grow, and that the Kindle Fire would become a leading device.

That second reason – marketshare growth – is already happening, of course. Amazon announced on the 17th that it was expanding its Appstore to cover nearly 200 countries, including notable additions like Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, South Africa and South Korea. Before, the store was only available in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.

But Amazon’s potential isn’t only tied to its growing reach, but also to its deep experience with e-commerce and related infrastructure. Amazon customers have their account information on
file, and can use 1-click purchasing to buy apps. The store lets users test drive apps, and promotes free apps daily, which drives traffic. Amazon also curates apps, so unlike Google Play,
those that fill its charts have been scanned for malware and for other bad behavior.

For developers looking to have their app found, and more importantly, purchased, these strengths can add up to drive sales.（source：techcrunch）

3）Flurry: U.S. App Audience Now Roughly Equal To Internet Users On Laptops & Desktops

Sarah Perez

While the time spent in apps may be starting to challenge television, mobile analytics firm Flurry examined today what it takes to reach a TV-sized audience on mobile, comparing U.S. app
usage to traditional media as well as to other online audience measurements. During “primetime,” which for apps also includes those “after-work” hours of around 7 to 10 p.m., app usage among the top 250 iOS and Android applications spikes to a peak of 52 million consumers, the company found.

App usage tends to drop off overnight, and weekends see higher daytime app usage through the day (9-5). During the normal workday, people use apps at least 75 percent as much as on　weekends, the data shows.

Of course, this is collective usage. In order to target an audience that size using traditional media, you would need to combine the audiences of the three most highly rated primetime TV shows on a good week, says Flurry. Or you’d have to combine the circulation of the largest 200 weekend newspapers in the U.S.

“We believe this comparison says a couple of important things about the app audience: first that it has reached critical mass, and second that it is still highly fragmented relative to more traditional forms of media,” notes Flurry head of research Mary Ellen Gordon on the company blog.

The firm also noted that reaching the key 18 to 49-year-old demographic using traditional media will become increasingly difficult as they turn towards digital media more. Flurry cited a
report from Morgan Stanley, which showed that there has been a 50 percent decline in TV audience ratings since 2002, illustrating this point.

For what it’s worth, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings pointed to this same trend in a mission statement released yesterday, noting specifically that we’re moving towards a time when apps will replace channels. “Existing networks that fail to develop first-class apps will lose viewing and revenue,” Hastings said.

It may be some time yet until that transition completes (if you even believe in this “either/or” scenario, that is). But meanwhile, when app usage is compared with the Internet audience using desktops and laptops, things are more even. During February, for example, Flurry saw 224 million monthly actives using mobile apps in the U.S. That same month, comScore reported 221 million desktop and laptop users of the top 50 U.S. digital properties.（source：techcrunch）

4）Number of paying players on mobile to overtake handheld by end of 2013

by James Nouch

By the end of 2013, the number of paying players on mobile and tablet devices will surpass the number of paying players on dedicated gaming handhelds.

That’s according to a forecast from the International Data Corporation, which predicts a steady rise in the number of paying mobile gamers over the next five years.

The number of handheld consoles shipped, meanwhile, will fall at an average of nearly 7 percent per year across the same period, according to the IDC’s report.

However, the IDC expects handheld consoles – such as the 3DS and Vita – to lead in terms of average revenue per user through 2017.

The handover

“In order for Nintendo’s and Sony’s gaming-optimised handhelds to remain ahead of smartphones and tablets on key metrics such as ARPU, these companies and their game card developer and publisher partners will have to redouble their efforts in a number of respects,” explained Lewis Ward, IDC research manager and author of its latest report.

“Digital distribution has reached an inflection point in mobile and portable gaming, and future success will largely boil down to finding a unique balance of freemium business model excellence and that ability to deliver compelling social experiences.”

IDC’s take comes after Juniper predicted that the number of games downloaded across mobile and tablet will triple by 2017, thanks to cloud-based games taking pride of place on portable devices.

The full report – Worldwide Gaming-Optimized Handheld, Smartphone, and Tablet Gaming 2013–2017 Forecast – is available from the IDC website.（source：pocketgamer）

5）More layoffs hit EA

By Kris Ligman

EA posted on its news blog The Beat today that it is undergoing a new wave of layoffs.

With the announcement still fresh and rumors abounding about the scale of the layoffs, it is unknown at this time how many of EA’s over 9000 employees will be affected — but it’s enough
for EA to address the cuts publicly.

Gamasutra previously reported that EA laid off a significant amount of workers just earlier this month.

The statement from EA, dubbed an “Organizational Update,” reads as follows:

In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees – those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends.

These are hard but essential changes as we focus on delivering great games and showing players around the world why to spend their time with us.

We’re following up with EA to get a clearer picture of what’s happening at the company. If you have any information that can fill in the gaps, please get in touch with us at news at gamasutra dot com. All confidentiality will be honored.

UPDATE: A reliable source familiar with the situation at EA cast doubt on reports that 10 percent of the workforce has been laid off. We still don’t have a clear picture of the extent of the layoffs, and don’t expect to until possibly EA’s earnings call early next month.

The source also said key titles that were being handled by EA Partners — a publishing branch that handles externally-developed games — are still on track, namely Insomniac Games’ upcoming

Fuse and the major title coming from Respawn Entertainment. Mobile-focused Chillingo is also continuing to work with independent developers to publish new titles. The EA Partners publishing label is rumored to have been discontinued.

The same source claimed that reports of 2,000 layoffs at EA are widely overstated. （source：gamasutra）

6）Rise of cloud-based games to triple mobile and tablet downloads

by Keith Andrew

The continued rise cloud-based technology will enable more and more games to span multiple forms of hardware, leading to a tripling in game downloads on mobile and tablet devices.

That’s the conclusion of a report by Juniper Research looking into the future role of the smartphone sector, with the firm claiming annual game downloads across mobile and tablet will jump to 64.1 billion by 2017.

That’s three times the number recorded in 2012.

Up in the cloud

But this isn’t just a case of a greater number of mobile consumers downloading more and more games. Rather, games themselves are going to change.

As smartphones and tablets get more powerful and games increasingly exist in the cloud, so titles will launch across multiple devices – from console and PC to mobiles and slates.

This trend for a rise in “sophisticated games”, as Juniper describes them, will evolve smartphones and tablets into the “primary screen for gamers.”

This trend will be coupled with a general rise in demand for games on tablets, with report author Siân Rowlands mid-core games – “who previously spent a lot of money and time playing games but now have jobs, families or other commitments” – are increasingly taking to tablets.

Ode to Ouya

“These people are really embracing the tablet form factor, and innovative gameplay devices such as the mobile based Ouya console, really appeal to them,” added Rowlands.

As the mid-core moves on tablets, Juniper concludes, so handhelds will suffer. Nevertheless, the firm doesn’t believe that the likes of 3DS and PS Vita will lose out completely.

“Juniper Research believes that mobile and tablet games will not mark the end of this market, but with players such as Nintendo cutting its sales forecasts by 14 percent for its 3DS, and 27 percent for its Wii U, it is hard to deny the challenge by the smartphone and tablet sector,” Juniper concludes.

The report comes after Pocket Gamer editor-in-chief Kristan Reed suggested Nintendo needed to pull its focus away from Wii U, throwing its weight instead behind 3DS to ensure it retains its position as ‘handheld king’.（source：pocketgamer）