Los Angeles — Barely a month back since it introduced its App Center store in the US, the social networking giant Facebook today announced that it has expanded the availability of its App Center store to several more countries. Predominantly English-speaking countries will come first, with localized stores for other languages to launch in the next few weeks.
As of July 9, the App Center is available as a bookmark on users’ Facebook home page and mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android, in markets with a high density of English speakers, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa. Facebook users in those countries should already see it in that websites’ left navigation menu.
It is also available via facebook.com/appcenter.
More so, the App Center move is Facebook’s latest attempt to propel its ecosystem of applications of games and other services on the social media network, keeping users more engaged to its site even longer. The company is also increasingly dependent on these apps for revenue, taking a cut of any money these apps generate. Zynga, for instance, is a large enough contributor to the social network’s revenue that it is mentioned in its IPO filing.
Moreover, around 80 percent of active Facebook users each month are located outside the U.S., the social network said App Center will roll out to additional countries in the coming weeks. That includes Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey.
The social media outfit unveiled its App Center in early June with 600 social apps, including Nike+ GPS, Ubisoft Ghost Recon Commander, Stitcher Radio, Draw Something, and Pinterest. At the time, Facebook announced plans for a phased rollout, beginning in the U.S.
Facebook App Center Leak
Elaborating on the roll out, Facebook said today that since launch, App Center has “helped millions of people discover new mobile and web apps.” The company pointed out an example of game developer Kixeye, which saw a boost in installs and found that App Center traffic produces better than average revenue per user for its games War Commander and Battle Pirates. Disney’s Marvel: Avengers Alliance also found that App Center users are more engrossed than those who download from other stores, Facebook said.
In addition, app developers who want their products to be listed in those countries’ App Centers must submit translated app-detail pages ASAP. To make sure the global App Centers are fully stocked at launch, Facebook will fast-track any submissions that arrive by July 13. More details are available on Facebook’s blog.
In continuation, Facebook advocated international submissions and pointed out that some of its most popular apps and games have been built by non-U.S. developers, like Diamond Dash, Angry Birds Friends, and Spotify. The new global stores will offer up app suggestions based not only on user feedback, but also on which apps are most popular in a given country.