![]() ![]() “TapTap has no strict rival in the global market. “We’ll push more developers to leverage Android distribution channels other than Google Play where they can take 100% of sales,” founder Dash Huang said in an interview before the results. Instead, the company relies on advertising for its revenue. TapTap charges no fees on purchases made within games. TapTap doesn’t charge game developers a fee on in-app purchases. Platform Philosophy Zero-Commission App Store Model Since TapTap’s official launch, it has aimed to be a partner to developers and loyal to game players. Founding Īfter years of experimenting with the launch and development of platforms like Ver圜D and facilitating the development and publishing of indie games through their XD Network, Huang and Dai launched TapTap in 2017. The first games available were Ro: Idle Poring, an idle game based on the Ragnarok Online universe, and the stylish side-scrolling action game, ICEY. This may be limited to China, but as app stores receive more regulatory scrutiny worldwide, similar dynamics may eventually gain traction elsewhere (or even in new forms like cloud gaming via browsers or instant games).TapTap was originally founded by Yimeng (Dash) Huang and YunJie (Kros) Dai in 2016 as TapTap Concepts PTE. In other words, the combination of video platform and games platform could grow more competitive - YouTube + Google Play, Bilibili + TapTap, TikTok + new Bytedance platform - and might ultimately make 0% revenue share the norm. The obvious name missing is Bytedance therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Bytedance launch a self-developed gaming hub to counter TapTap with TikTok as its primary means of driving user acquisition. ![]() Tencent increased its position to 18% in 2020, Alibaba took a 10.8% stake back in 2019, and Sony bought in at $400M for 4.98% in 2020. Things get more interesting when you look at who owns a stake in Bilibili. It will fascinating to see how others follow suit. This powerful combo is already proven - miHoYo launched Genshin Impact in China primarily through a collaboration between Bilibili and TapTap, skipping the traditional Android app stores. XD’s Interim Report 2020 shows that TapTap’s advertising revenue sits at $38M, a 20% increase from the previous year.īack to X.D Networks’ investors: Bilibili’s investment signals a closer collaboration between China’s most popular long-form video network and China’s most popular gamer hub. Devs can now direct their Android user acquisition efforts towards TapTap, which creates a win-win-win situation: TapTap gets more users, the players get an amazing gamer hub, and devs don’t pay any store fees. While TapTap is available on both Android and iOS, only the Android version allows players to download games directly (the iOS version serves only as the community hub). While X.D Network has many successes as a game developer, its mobile game platform TapTap plays a more important role in China’s gaming ecosystem and is likely the key to investor interest.įor the uninitiated, TapTap is a community-focused mobile game platform that allows studios to distribute their games at 0% revenue share. Bilibili recently announced it will invest $123M for a 4.72% stake while Alibaba bought 0.76% for $20M. Shanghai-based X.D Network is in the center of the action, and the company just welcomed two new prominent investors to its roster. This is most striking in China, where developers are increasingly questioning the legacy app store distribution and business model. ![]() It’s clear that as anticompetitive pressures rise, content providers in certain regions are beginning to gain leverage in an evolving ecosystem with new models of user acquisition. There are major momentum shifts happening in mobile games distribution around the world: Apple vs Epic, app store fee reductions, Genshin Impact bypassing major Chinese app stores at launch, etc.
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