I was wondering, are there any app publishers in other countries that will publish games & accept Google Play payments on behalf of app developers in South Africa?
Yes, there are. These are usually private or personal arrangements though - we know the publishers of Desktop Dungeons on Android personally and they're definitely helping us out. It was pretty weird when someone else in the SA scene reached out to them as though they were "just a publisher", so I wouldn't recommend that approach in many cases.
That said, your best bet is still to try and build relationships with more "official" international Android publishers anyway - if you can pitch to Chillingo, that's probably a really good idea. If you're not making something that you'd feel comfortable pitching to someone that size, well, that says something else about the game ;)
For the record, we (as in MGSA/IESA) are still working on Google to get payments to SA companies working via the Play Store. Progress is slow, but it's happening. Google is much more aware of the issue now and is committed to dealing with it, it's just that their timelines are pretty slow.
For the record, we (as in MGSA/IESA) are still working on Google to get payments to SA companies working via the Play Store. Progress is slow, but it's happening. Google is much more aware of the issue now and is committed to dealing with it, it's just that their timelines are pretty slow.
Last word from Nick is that at best it won't happen in the next ten years. Best to look at other options.
Thank you dislekcia! Are there any other "official" international publishers besides Chillingo that you'd recommend pitching when I'm ready?
Not off the top of my head, no. Sorry. Our solution is different and thus I haven't put more time into researching that specific option.
That said, I wouldn't focus on releasing a game for Android primarily at the moment as a business consideration, personally. The logic goes something like this: If you've got a game that is good for touch devices and converts players well, then iOS is a much more stable market with better returns. IF YOU CAN GET NOTICED. iOS users pay a lot more readily than on Android and the iOS piracy scene is much smaller (Desktop Dungeons has way fewer installs on Android than iOS and I get pinged about pirated APKs all the time) so release on iOS first and then look for ways to move to Android later if that seems like it'd be worth the time investment.
I think that the hope for releasing something in Android and it making you money at all (let alone being wildly successful) is pretty small these days. You have to have something so incredibly special AND amazing marketing to seem to even get people to care at all :(
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That said, your best bet is still to try and build relationships with more "official" international Android publishers anyway - if you can pitch to Chillingo, that's probably a really good idea. If you're not making something that you'd feel comfortable pitching to someone that size, well, that says something else about the game ;)
For the record, we (as in MGSA/IESA) are still working on Google to get payments to SA companies working via the Play Store. Progress is slow, but it's happening. Google is much more aware of the issue now and is committed to dealing with it, it's just that their timelines are pretty slow.
That said, I wouldn't focus on releasing a game for Android primarily at the moment as a business consideration, personally. The logic goes something like this: If you've got a game that is good for touch devices and converts players well, then iOS is a much more stable market with better returns. IF YOU CAN GET NOTICED. iOS users pay a lot more readily than on Android and the iOS piracy scene is much smaller (Desktop Dungeons has way fewer installs on Android than iOS and I get pinged about pirated APKs all the time) so release on iOS first and then look for ways to move to Android later if that seems like it'd be worth the time investment.
I think that the hope for releasing something in Android and it making you money at all (let alone being wildly successful) is pretty small these days. You have to have something so incredibly special AND amazing marketing to seem to even get people to care at all :(