GameView Sees Potential In Android After 500,000 Tap Fish Installs

The 500,000 installs for the recently launched Android version of free-to-play aquarium sim Tap Fish might not yet stack up with over 10 million downloads on iOS, but publisher GameView still sees great potential in publishing on Android. “The Android platform holds tremendous opportunity for social mobile games,” John Hwang, Gameview VP of social games said in a statement announcing the Android statistics. “Consumers have clearly embraced it, and there are several key distribution and monetization opportunities that make it very appealing to us as developers." Since launching on Android April 1, Tap Fish players on the platform have checked in to their virtual aquariums an average of three times daily, GameView said, with over 85 percent of downloaders sticking with the game at least a week. The company decided to make an Android version of the title -- one of the top-grossing iOS games of 2010 -- after receiving multiple requests from potential players. The company was also convinced by Gartner research figures showing Android becoming the world's most popular OS by the end of the year, and comprising nearly half of the worldwide smartphone market in 2012. GameView also cited Google's recent addition of official support for in-app purchases on the Android Marketplace as an important factor in their decision to release more Android games in the coming months. Japanese social gaming giant DeNA acquired GameView last September, continuing a pattern of U.S. acquisitions for the fast-growing company.