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[STEVE] Hello, my name is Steve Taylor,
and I'm the Product Manager of the Unity Distribution Portal.
Today, I'm going to explain how you can access
a billion potential new users.
This is the question I ask all game developers:
"Why isn't your game on all the other app stores?"
The answer I get very often is "What stores?"
Fast facts about alternate app stores.
By 2023, there will be 1.7 billion gamers using them.
They will generate $5 billion of revenue
outside of China alone.
And right now, these alternate app stores
are growing faster than the Google Play Store.
The Unity Distribution Portal already reaches 1 billion gamers
that are connected to these stores.
But what are the challenges
associated to distributing to these stores?
First, you have to discover
and get on board all of these stores.
Then, each of these stores require specific SDKs to be implemented,
and specific builds.
You then have to submit your game metadata
to each of these stores through various tools, developer consoles.
Finally, once your game is submitted and live,
you have to track your game performance
through separate reporting dashboards.
And for each game update, you have to repeat that process.
Which make our landscape looks like this.
The alternate stores,
each represent a distinct effort, sometimes low, sometimes high,
for a revenue potential that is sometimes unproven.
Which is why, understandably, a lot of you answer,
"Well, as much I would like the extra revenue,
I'm not sure I have the time
or bandwidth to address these stores,
and I'm really not sure about the ROI."
Let's look at this in more detail.
You have a game,
and there are a few app stores
that you want to distribute your game to.
Let's start with the first one. You implement the SDK,
and you create a store-specific build.
We gather the metadata, following the store's requirements,
upload it to the store, using the developer console,
and your game is live in that store,
generating revenue which you can track
through the reporting dashboard.
And you do the same for the second store, another SDK,
another build, another set of metadata.
Probably different from the first one.
You should also upload through the store's specific tools
and view the performance through the store's specific
reporting dashboard.
And yet another game that requires
specific SDK implementation, specific build,
a new set of metadata,
and another process of upload,
and revenue performance tracking.
I could go on and on with green, orange, purple.
I think you get a gist of it
and very quickly your life can become like this:
builds, builds, SDKs, metadata,
images, descriptions, developer consoles,
uploads, reporting dashboards.
So, what would ideal look like?
What if there were a single SDK to implement
and a single build to manage?
A single set of metadata to gather,
and you would upload all of that
through a single console and yet be able
to distribute to all of these stores.
And the performance of your game on all of these stores
would be centralized in a single place.
So that's the vision around which we built
the Unity Distribution Portal.
How does it work, in a nutshell?
Well, there's a single SDK to implement
so that you have a single build to manage.
You then consolidate all your metadata
in a single dev console, and from there
you choose which stores you want to distribute your game to.
And then UDP does the heavy lifting
of repacking your game into store-specific versions.
Consolidating the metadata so that each store
gets the metadata it needs.
And finally, from UDP, you can submit your game
to all of these stores at once.
And your reporting will be consolidated in the UDP console,
(bleep sound) which changes the landscape this way.
All the alternate stores that were previously scattered,
to the left and top of the chart,
now regroup in a single and larger
low hanging opportunity.
Now that you understand how UDP works,
let us show you how you can use UDP
to distribute your game to alternate app stores.
[NARRATOR] The Unity Distribution Portal enables you
to distribute your games to multiple Android app stores
through a single hub and using a single build,
allowing you to focus more time on creating your game,
and making the process of distributing your game much easier.
The Unity Distribution Portal, or UDP,
currently supports games built for Android devices.
It is supported on Unity versions from 5.6.1.
However, Unity versions 2018.4 and above are recommended.
UDP is free for developers
and can be downloaded for use in your project,
using the package manager in Unity.
It's also available via the Unity Asset store.
Once the Unity Distribution Portal package
is installed into your Unity project,
you can access and set it up by choosing
Window > Unity Distribution Portal > Settings.
To work with UDP, your project
will need to be using a Unity project ID.
If your project doesn't already have an ID assigned,
you will be prompted to create one.
Once you have a designated Unity project ID,
you're ready to set up the UDP client.
To get started using the Distribution Portal,
you'll need to set your project up in the Unity
Distribution Portal console.
Head to the console by visiting distribute.dashboard.unity.com
and log in with your Unity ID.
UDP is free to use for any individual
or organization with a Unity account.
Once logged in, simply press the Create New Game button
to add a new game project to your console.
Then fill out the information about your game
on the Game Info tab, including any promotional Assets
you would like to use in the store page.
If you've already got the project set up on the Google Play Store
and would like to reuse the information from there,
you can choose the Import from Google Play button
to copy over the metadata of your game
from the Google Play Store into your UDP console project.
Simply copy the Google Play Store link
into the field and the console will auto-fill the fields,
based on the metadata from the Play Store page.
Then add any remaining text or Assets
into your game's profile that are needed.
The in-app purchases section allows you to update the prices
of IAPs for your game, and set the prices
for additional currencies.
You can add and manage individual items,
or you can import multiple IAPs at once,
using the Import Catalog button.
We can also import IAPs using a CSV file
in the Google Play format.
Here you can download the template CSV file,
using the Download Template link.
Fill in your IAPs locally, and upload the file
to add all of your in-app purchases at once.
When you're done setting up your project, hit Save.
Scroll down to the Integration Information
and copy the client ID.
Back in the Unity Editor in the UDP settings,
paste your client ID and continue.
Your project is now set up, and its ID is linked
with the Unity Distribution Portal.
We can use the Pull button to get data,
such as our in-app purchase entries from the console.
As you can see, the IAP that we entered earlier
is now visible inside the Editor.
We can also create new entries in our settings here.
And use the Push button to synchronize them with the console.
Some implementation work is going to be required in your game code,
mainly using UDP methods to manage your in-app purchases.
The UDP documentation will guide through these steps,
and you can find the link to it, below.
When you're done setting up your project and ready
to deploy your game to stores, build your project in Unity.
It's worth keeping in mind that before deploying,
you should test the UDP build in a sandbox environment,
so you can be sure your IAPs work well
before committing your game to the stores.
When you're done building, upload your APK files
in the binary section of the console
and create your package description.
Notice how changes to our in-app purchases
have been synced from the Editor.
We can manage the currencies of our in-app purchases,
one at the time or use the convert button
to automatically set global currency prices
on our in-app purchases.
We can use the Manage Languages dropdown
to add additional language support to the store metadata for our game.
Let's add the French, Italian, and German languages,
by selecting them from the list.
We can fill out the copy ourselves
for each of our languages we wish to support.
Or if we already have a Google Play Store link,
we can input the copy directly from the Google Play Store,
using the same buttons as before and the localized URL.
When we're done with our game information and ready
to release our game, choose Save,
and then choose Release.
We'll need to create some information about this release.
Enter a Revision tag and some Release notes,
then choose Release.
You'll then be prompted with the app stores available
for your release.
With UDP, it's completely up to you
which stores you want to distribute to.
Simply select from the available stores in the list.
You'll need to sign up to each store and link it
with your UDP account in order to register your game.
When you've registered with the stores you'd like to use,
you can also choose the countries you like
to deploy your game to on each store.
When you're happy with your store setup,
choose the Repack Game and Submit to Store option
from the dropdown and choose Publish.
Repacking takes your UDP build and clones it
for each store you're submitting to.
It will remove the sandbox component of the package
and replace it automatically with the store-specific component.
This allows you to submit your game to a store
without needing to include a number of unnecessary SDKs.
The Unity Distribution Portal automatically creates
a new build each time, and only packages it
with its required SDKs for the store
you're submitting it to.
After repacking, you may then be presented
with the pre-submission dialogue to help with any issues or changes
that need to be made for successful submission to a store.
Once any changes have been made and your submission is ready,
you'll be prompted to continue.
You'll then be taken to the Status page,
as UDP begins to repacking and submitting your game.
Congratulations, your game should now
be submitted to multiple stores.
To see how your game has been performing on all
of your stores, you can use the reporting tab in the console.
You can use the dropdown to filter the report across all stores,
or an individual storefront.
This page gives you information, such as
monthly active users, retention rate, installs,
gross revenue and more.
The Partner Stores tab shows an overview
of all the stores available to submit to,
with more coming soon.
To learn more about each of the stores
you can distribute with through UDP,
choose the Read More link.
As you can see, the Unity Distribution Portal
makes it fast and easy to distribute your game across
multiple stores simultaneously.
All right, now that we've seen how UDP works, let's sum it up.
With UDP, you no longer have to worry about
the store's specific SDKs.
You only need to implement a single SDK
and manage a single build
and distribute your game to the stores
through a single console.
You retain control over your distribution,
and you gain access to new distribution channels.
In summary, all it takes is one person,
one build, working through one platform,
to access one billion users.
Now, let's look at the stores that are available through UDP.
There is the Samsung Galaxy Store, that is preloaded in all
Galaxy smartphones and tablets that are sold worldwide.
It represents 400 million MAUs
that download 450 million apps on a monthly basis.
There is HUAWEI AppGallery, that is preloaded on all
HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones that are sold globally.
They represent 150 million MAUs.
There is Mi GetApps, which is the app store preloaded
on all XIAOMI devices sold outside of China.
There is One Store, which is an app store
preloaded on all the Android smartphones that are sold in Korea.
There is TPAY Mobile, which distributes content
to the mobile carriers in the Middle East and Africa region,
reaching 350 million Android subscribers in that region.
AppTutti is a standard app store per se.
It's a channel that can help you publish your game in China.
Finally, there's the global app stores.
Uptodown, QooApp, SHAREit, together represent
more than 200 million MAUs.
UDP is publicly available,
and over 350 studios
have already used it representing 660 and counting
games submitted to the stores.
Azur Games is one of these studios.
They have used UDP to submit their game
Jurassic Monster World
And within two weeks of work, they had their game featured
on the Galaxy Store and HUAWEI AppGallery,
generating significant traction in key markets.
UDP was designed to simplify
the complexities that are typically associated to game distribution.
And we are really happy to see that we are
addressing this problem for some of you, already.
Last but not least, UDP is entirely free for developers.
Whether you have a Plus, a Pro,
or even a Personal Edition license,
UDP is entirely free.
Unity does not take a cent from your revenue.
For instance, Samsung Galaxy Store terms
are 70/30 revenue share.
You will get 70%, even if you submit via UDP.
The app stores are very keen
on getting fresh content on their storefront,
and they're providing a lot of support and visibility.
The time to get on board is now!
Go to unity.com/udp
to find out how you can get started.
Go on and grow your game!
Thank you.
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