Aethir's InstaPlay Capabilities: Breaking the Hold of App Stores

The top three leading global app stores include over 5.8 million apps, accounting for the vast majority of all mobile apps since they represent a highly efficient way for developers to reach their target audiences. A staggering 260,000 of Google Play’s 2.3 million apps are games, which showcases the demand and popularity of mobile gaming as an easily accessible alternative to desktop and console gaming. Although app stores like Google Play, Apple App Store, and Amazon Appstore are convenient one-stop shops for game publishers, they also come with various limitations since these big tech-owned app stores have strict terms and conditions for publishers.

The case of Epic Games vs Apple App Store in 2020 is a vivid example of the monopolistic behavior of leading app stores. Epic Games, the company behind the planetary shooter hit Fortnite, argued that the Apple App Store’s 30% revenue cut is too high and that there’s no reason for app stores to charge more than 8% for their services to remain profitable. Furthermore, Epic Games started giving more favorable in-game transaction rates to players who weren’t playing Fortnite on iPhones because they didn’t need to pay the 30% Apple App Store revenue cut. Apple responded that the value of its brand and the global trust in the Apple App Store are among the key reasons behind its 30% revenue cut. The subsequent court case lasted several years, incurring significant fines for Epic Games and resulting in removing Fortnite from the Apple App Store on iOS. Instead, Fortnite completely shifted to the Epic Games Store.

This case shows how big tech app stores retain complete control over their platforms, forcing publishers to adhere to their terms or face legal action and even removal of their game apps. 

Aethir Atmosphere’s InstaPlay gaming features represent a viable alternative to mainstream app stores, enabling gaming studios to launch their own gaming markets and allowing users to instantly start playing games without extensive downloads and hefty fees. 

How InstaPlay Can Break App Store Monopoly

InstaPlay gaming represents one of the most cost-effective cloud gaming alternatives to app stores because it can circumvent two critical drawbacks of mainstream app stores. The first one is excessive app store revenue cuts, which can go up to 30% in the case of market-leading app stores like Google Play and Apple App Store. The second drawback is data-heavy game downloads that occupy considerable space on user devices. 

The InstaPlay gaming concept utilizes cloud computing infrastructure for hosting and rendering games, which lifts the burden from the player’s device and outsources it to a cloud computing provider. Aethir’s decentralized cloud infrastructure is designed for advanced gaming and AI workloads, empowering gaming studios with InstaPlay gaming capabilities. By giving power back to game developers and letting them launch their own gaming markets is how InstaPlay can break the app store monopoly. 

Through InstaPlay integrations, gaming studios can launch their proprietary app stores, which allow players to instantly start playing games without lengthy downloads and installations directly on the studio’s gaming platform. This way, InstaPlay gaming enables gaming companies to avoid using mainstream app stores and sharing revenue with them, thus maximizing their profits. Instead of paying high revenue cuts to big tech app stores, studios that use InstaPlay gaming solutions can provide gamers with top-quality gaming experiences at bargain prices and instant access to gaming titles by leveraging cloud computing infrastructure. InstaPlay gaming is a one-click gaming cloud service that improves user experiences by removing app downloads and enhances game publisher profitability by breaking the hold of app stores.

With InstaPlay gaming, studios can customize their user onboarding experience without adhering to pre-set app store rules and burdening user devices with data-heavy installations. 

Aethir Atmoshpere’s InstaPlay Features

Aethir’s DePIN stack provides decentralized cloud computing services for AI and gaming enterprises at scale. Our infrastructure utilizes 43,000+ GPUs for cloud gaming, along with 3000+ NVIDIA H100s, which represent a GPU powerhouse fleet for advanced AI workloads. Additionally, with over 32,000 distributed Aethir Edge devices, anyone can become a cloud computing provider in Aethir’s network and earn ATH tokens for their services. Aethir’s GPU network is the only decentralized enterprise-grade GPU-as-a-service platform on the market. We use resource pooling to match idle GPU resources in our global network with our client’s needs. Aethir’s vast network of 91,000+ community-owned Checker Nodes ensure all of our GPU Containers provide optimal performance to our clients and their end users at all times. 

Aethir Atmosphere is our flagship GPU product for gaming enterprises that need access to increased volumes of reliable, uninterrupted, and highly scalable GPU power supplies. Atmosphere provides seamless access to high-performance gaming. This scalable GPU service enables real-time rendering without needing powerful local hardware, making high-end gaming more accessible. Gamers can instantly access and play graphics-intensive titles across any device, enhancing convenience and connectivity. 

With Aethir Atmosphere’s InstantPlay features, full games are available through any device or channel, enabling players to play before downloading or purchasing. Furthermore, Aethir Atmosphere lowers the barriers for new player acquisition, leading to more efficient marketing spending and higher ROI for developers and publishers. Games like Honor of Kings and PubG, which generally require several gigabytes of game downloads and client installations, become instantly playable by integrating Aethir Atmosphere for InstaPlay gaming.

Aethir’s InstaPlay in Action

Let’s have a look at two prime examples of Aethir’s InstaPlay capabilities in action.

SuperScale is a specialist tech company that exists to drive success for mobile games. Its core expertise is user acquisition (UA) for mobile gaming titles, including AAA games.  Aethir and SuperScale are creating an instant play cloud gaming solution that allows potential players to immediately try out a game after viewing an online ad for that specific title. This innovative service eliminates the need for complex download processes or any expensive hardware requirements on the player's side. Aethir and SuperScale are creating a streamlined onboarding funnel for mobile games by providing studios with cloud gaming alternatives to app store services. The goal is to enable gamers to try out new gaming titles instantly instead of directing them toward third-party platforms where they need to provide extensive data, pass through verification procedures, and more before they can play a game. This approach considerably simplifies mobile game user acquisition and maximizes gaming studios' potential profitability.

Return Entertainment joined forces with Aethir to build a groundbreaking all-in-one solution for gaming studios, game publishers, and TV manufacturers. Aethir and Return Entertainment are building a never-before-seen InstaPlay gaming experience on smart TVs powered by Aethir’s GPU network, bringing cinematic big-screen gaming to every living room with massive scalability and viable economics. Thanks to Aethir's DePIN stack, gamers can instantly play Rivals Arena, a revolutionary deck-building brawler built with the breathtaking Unreal 5 engine. The two companies will also work together on a comprehensive solution for streaming service providers, Smart TV manufacturers, and TV operators. This partnership is the first implementation of InstaPlay gaming as a cloud gaming alternative to app stores on smart TVs, showcasing the versatility of Aethir’s decentralized cloud infrastructure and its capability to bring innovative game streaming models to all devices, including TVs. 

Maximizing User Acquisition with Aethir’s InstaPlay Functionality

InstaPlay gaming is a powerful solution for gaming studios looking to break the hold of app stores and avoid paying massive revenue cuts to big tech companies. By implementing cloud gaming alternatives to app stores, studios can directly reach users, allowing them to charge lower service fees since no middlemen are involved. Furthermore, InstaPlay gaming is far less data-heavy than downloading a full game from an app store. The InstaPlay gaming experience lets players jump into the action with just a few clicks, which means the entry barrier is virtually non-existent, resulting in higher conversion rates and maximized user acquisition. 

Aethir Atmosphere is our GPU cloud computing service tailored for all types of gaming workloads. InstaPlay gaming is one of Atmosphere’s core specialties. Unlike centralized cloud providers, Aethir’s GPU cloud is globally distributed in a multitude of locations, enabling Aethir to provide InstaPlay services to gaming clients worldwide efficiently. 

Furthermore, Aethir’s DePIN stack can simultaneously channel GPU power from various sources, thanks to our network Indexers, which constantly pair clients with the closest available GPU Containers. Aethir’s GPU network takes full advantage of idle GPU resources to power our clients' gaming platforms, which is why we are able to provide gaming companies with unbeatable service prices.

App stores have dominated the gaming market in recent years, but with the rising popularity of InstaPlay gaming, studios finally have a viable alternative. With Aethir Atmosphere’s decentralized GPU solution, gaming companies can easily implement InstaPlay gaming and launch their own gaming platforms independently of mainstream app stores.