I need a partner in China. Any companies who do that?

I been eyeballing those alternative markets that are far more popular than play and amazon over in China. I think this means if I ever plan on releasing apps to that huge chunk of the worldwide base of android users, I need to find a good partner in china. I found this site "appsborg.com" that says they do this sort of thing, but I don't know how they operate or if they are even completely legit.

I sure hate the idea of shipping off APK's to somewhere and crossing my fingers hoping everything is done correctly and fairly.... but then again to send an unsigned APK which a service just handles the upload into all those markets from there, as well as dealing with all the taxes, and the documentation required to operate in those markets... sounds kind of nice.

Maybe it would be best if somebody could spread some knowledge on this subject? Is there a company somewhere that is definitely trustworthy and reputable that handles this sort of thing? Do they charge up front costs? Do they take residual costs? Anybody tried taking your own apps overseas? Did the effort/cost payoff? Did you monetize through AdMob?

Thanks ahead of time for any replies/advice!

 

Probably would be safer to contact companies through your country's trade organizations in china.. or ask your local idga for contacts..

But this company in china, Cheetah Mobile visited last year in my city (event organized by local idga/trade org),
they were looking for buying gaming companies, or working as a publisher there..

also just saw this article,
https://www.techinasia.com/chinas-government-preapprove-single-mobile-game-starting-july-1

 

Yes, they have built quite some wall of entry for those markets these days. That is why I figure some company must be the perfect middleman for this situation...

But all my google fu fails me here. I found that appsborg place, but that seems kind of sketchy.

EDIT: also worth mentioning, I went through a bit of research with handy dandy google translate, and found I could get an account on Baidu, but nowhere near able to publish, as it requested an ID, tax certificates, and all sorts of things you really have to jump through hoops for to get. Plus with that app approval thing, you need a certificate for that as well.

 

Oh found another possible place, called "elinkent.com" where they advertise that they put out western apps in Chinese markets.

Hrmmm still hard to say if any of these are viable.

 

The Crossy Road team used Yodo1 for China publishing so I guess they are at least legit. Maybe you can check them out, although I've never dealt with any publishers myself.

 

I emailed those guys about that, no reply yet, but I get the impression they only take super high quality stuff that's already done well in play or amazon.

 

Found another:

http://www.ae-mobile.com/en/ae-services-china-android-publishing.php

emailed them, waiting to hear more about what they do.

 

i m also interested releasing my game in china, let us know how it works for you. with all the pirate ask in their several store it make sense to have an installed company who got a fee in china
cheers

 

Maybe I Dream Sky ? they publish some great titles in China

 

I looked at iDreamSky, but they also seem to want an established big bucks app that already has done very well in western markets. That's somebody I may email and find out for sure, but I'd bet they'd turn me away for not being big enough.

Which is a shame, what if somebody was making an anime style app or something that might do a lot better in that market? They kinda get held back because of a less than triple A record in the west...

 

Yodo1 and iDreamSky will in most cases only publish your game if it is a proven hit with good metrics in Western Markets. There are tons of other Chinese publishers out there, but you will need to do your due diligence.

Many of them, like some high volume western publishers, will be more than happy to just submit your game to all the Chinese App stores and take any cut of the revenue, without doing any marketing. Once again, when working with a piblisher, make sure you get in writing, precise figures on marketing spend and how they will be promoting your game.

 

Where are these people? Haha, my apps don't really have a huge track record even in western app stores, with only one app approaching over 100k installs since December last year... so I can't really approach a big publisher yet, I need a small guy to help out a small guy kind of deal, and I wouldn't mind sharing a portion of revenue, but who can I trust? Where do I find somebody/some company like that?

Not to mention I have no problem doing a little marketing legwork, the biggest issue being that I can't provide the paperwork to even get on those app stores... I need somebody who can fill that role at a fair cost, and that is basically it.

 

You can't do marketing in China as you probably don't know Chinese, and you really don't want to get into submitting apps yourself due to the Chinese government legal firewall you will need to cross, a partner is the only viable way.

Spend an hour or so on google looking for Chinese publishers that at least have an english section on their website. There are plenty.

 

I can help you,if you want publish unity game apk,i am a programmer,I am working in Shanghai. But,after 2016/7/1,more difficult to publish games in China.

 

Seems legit, publish with this guy!

 

He does have a good point, soon the law changes, look here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/b...les-on-foreign-firms-online-content.html?_r=0

 

i dont think you really need a publisher, just keep in mind chinese people dont use apple store or google play, you can submit to some of the most popular android app store: https://www.techinasia.com/10-android-app-stores-china-2014-edition

there is lot of resources: How to publish on "<insert chinese app store name>"
for tencent: http://open.qq.com/eng/
for baidu: http://app.baidu.com/

also some popular but less accessible to foreigner store: china unicom and china mobile which are two largest mobile carrier company in china

 

The biggest stores in China are strict about having the right paperwork, is really what stops me. Go to Baidu.com and try to upload an app - it quickly becomes apparent a western person can't easily get on there.

I'd bet some of them are less difficult than others but the kicker is that soon it gets even harder, requiring government approval for apps.

 

Japan is doing similar. They probably want apps and games their residents can read in their native languages and that need wasn't being fulfilled by the west.

 

I plan on localizing into traditional Chinese, but that does little to help me without somebody/some company who can legally (has a Chinese ID, and has registered with the government) get things up to the major app stores. It feels very much like the government is trying to force out anything not developed (well, published) within their borders, which doesn't seem like... like most anywhere else with app stores?

 

You clearly have no idea about the how the Chinese market operates.

 

you right, after checking in details all require a valid Chinese company type IT, it will be different in all province but in case of Sichuan registering this kind of company cost around 100 000 RMB and require 5 chinese people acting as guarantor. Its a bit expensive if you want to casually publish apps. If some people are interested however i could give you some contact with foreign companies working as publisher and game developer in Shanghai Beijing. i have been working here few years in case people are not fond of doing contract within Chinese company. its better to work with foreign companies setup here.

 

I'm sure at least some developers (me included) would like to hear more about how things operate over there. Do the companies usually take a unsigned APK that is already translated, and create their own media (screenshots, store icons and feature graphics) that they manage themselves, or do they expect the developer to provide media as well? What is considered a fair share of revenue for Ad Monetized apps (lets say AdMob apps with Banners and Interstitials) or maybe for IAP's or even paid-for apps? Are paid-for apps common in those markets, or are they like ours which have tons of free apps?

Thanks ahead of time if you have any insight!

 

i have checked the baidu app store and unicom app store ( my actual carrier) none have paid app, some app have ads and most have IAP, some have a virtual currency for its whole platform for example QQ game have Kiubi which can be spent on everygame that have integrated it.

if you publish to QQ your app should not use third party ads, you must use their ads or iap system. it would actually better to use this network, in china everyone have a qq account with some money, even my wife grandmother. so it take them one click to spend the currency while they need to go to the bank and make their card open to transaction if they want to use apple store IAP

 

Thanks again, that's very useful information!

 

There are quite a number of companies that will help you distribute without publishing, there are whole lot more if you do a search. I have no experience with them, so caveat emptor

https://www.meatti.com/
http://www.kick9.com/daas/daas_zh
http://www.elinkent.com/

 

Thanks for that @imtrobin !

 

I'm Chinese. It's difficult publish game after 2016/7/1.

 

That dead line is pretty close. And I'm pretty sure your government would have no qualms on applying the law retroactively. Chinese law and government seems to be more about getting things done, not about lining the pockets of lawyers.

The Chinese have always been opposed to allowing too much foreign interference or dependence on foreign trade. In most industries the only practical way to operate in China is to partner with a local company. And it sounds like this new law is restricting that too.

Short of another Opium Wars type intervention*, I don't think China is going to open up. It might be wiser to focus on markets that do support games.

* And I actually doubt the west has the capacity to pull of this type of intervention today.

 

In ways I gotta agree, but at the same time that's letting a huge giant market chunk slip out of your reach...

It's tough for western apps to get over there, that's pretty much what I've learned most clearly since starting this thread. If I do manage to figure a way out, I'll be sure to share my findings.

 

this might have some info too,
Unite Europe 2016 - Monetize Your Games In China's Market