New Next Gen Windows Phone Marketplace policies

The news just never stops does it? This time we’ve got some news for Windows Phone Developers. The Windows Phone Marketplace policies have changed! They’ve been changed to attract a wider range of developers, from large software companies to students and hobbyists.

The new Windows Phone Marketplace policies offer:

  • Annual registration fee of $99
  • No limit to the number of paid apps submitted 5 free apps per registration, $19.99 each after that
  • Free registration to DreamSpark students (same unlimited paid and 5 free apps applies)
  • A new optional push notification service to help developers stay engaged with customers
  • A new optional Trial API – trials mean more customers try your app, and less likelihood that they return it. The length or type of trial is fully controlled by the developer
  • The ability to publish to all available Marketplace markets through a new “worldwide distribution” option, allowing developers to pay once and distribute broadly
  • Wider range of business models; free, paid, freemium and ad-funded
  • Equally important to many developers is what isn’t changing:
  • A revenue share of 70/30
  • Developers manage their business with Marketplace via the self service portal http://developer.windowsphone.com
  • Payout takes place monthly for developers that have earned more than USD$200 worldwide
  • Developers can make ad funded applications
  • All applications go through a process of technical and content certification
  • Marketplace offers support for credit card commerce, and where available mobile operator billing.
  • Microsoft continues its practice of publishing policies, guidelines, and submission process details to developers so they understand exactly how marketplace works.

The full list of Windows Phone Marketplace policies is now available here.

Comments

  • Kantong

    So what exactly does this offer over iPhone? To me it seems less appealing as iPhone is pretty much the same, besides the iPhone’s millions of units already sold.

    Microsoft moving away from a open platform was a bad idea, their closed standards are no where near as good as Apples. Hate to boast Apple but its true.

    • jtmat

      Never know about next gen WinMob 7… Microsoft making some good moves so far. Doubt if any real developer would discount this deal. iPhone was also discounted, said they were late to the game and so on… remember that? So, things change…. who knows what will be hot next year.

      Microsoft and Apple are closed… spend a bunch of money building an app that apple does not like… see how far that gets you. ;-)