Skich, a Cyprus-based mobile gaming platform, has launched Skich Store, an alternative app store for mobile gamers in Europe. This comes after recent regulatory changes in the European Union that allow alternative app stores to operate on iOS devices. Skich Store is available to EU iPhone users via its official website, with an Android version in development.
Skich initially started out as a game discovery application that helped users find and download games from the App Store. However, now it has become a full-fledged alternative store, leveraging its discovery features to enhance game visibility and user engagement. The site gets 100,000 organic visitors every month and is growing at a 20% rate.
Skich Store offers a personalized experience to the players with a swipe-based discovery system modeled after dating applications. Players swipe to the right to save games they like and to the left to reject games that aren’t of interest to them. The store also has social features like friend lists and friend and similar-player recommendations, which make the discovery experience even more compelling.
One of the standout features of Skich Store is its robust recommendation system, which categorizes games into 240 genres—14 times that of App Store. This allows players to discover titles that truly suit their passions. Early user data indicates that 70% of players using Skich Store download at least one game, and users install two to five times as many games per month as they used to in their old habits.
To developers, Skich Store gives more visibility above and beyond typical ranking algorithms. Fifty percent of all users who visit a developer’s page download at least one other game created by the same studio. The website has profile pages for developers as well as more branding opportunities, allowing them to develop stronger relationships with consumers.
Skich raised $1.5 million from GEM Capital since 2022 to develop products and build its platform. The company aims to redefine mobile game distribution by providing a gamer-focused by nature platform that enables them to find and play new games in a more convenient way.
Skich Store’s launch positions it on a level playing field with other competing alternative app stores like the Epic Games Store and Aptoide. However, the alternative store market is increasing to be more competitive with Amazon closing down its Android store over the summer and Xbox’s plans for a gamer-first app store still under consideration.
Skich’s CEO, Sergey Budkovski, explains that game discovery has been a major problem for players and developers. With AI making game development easier and competition fiercer, Skich aims to deliver a new game discovery experience. The company aims to disrupt the mobile gaming industry just like Spotify disrupted the music industry.
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act has opened up the potential for app developers to create their own app stores without having to hurdle significant regulatory hurdles. Skich is capitalizing on this shift by focusing on creating a platform that more effectively pairs games with gamers than traditional stores. With the market for alternative app stores on the rise, Skich is well-positioned to play a leadership role in altering the way in which mobile games are found and spread.
