104-498: Unlight ( アンライト～Unlight～ ) was a free-to-play collectible card battle and role-playing browser game developed by the Japanese company Techway. With multiple language versions including Japanese, Chinese (both traditional and simplified ), Korean, French, Thai, and English, the game boasts a playership of two million across all platforms ( Facebook , Niconico , Naver , Yahoo! Mobage , Mixi , and Koei Tecmo 's myGAMECITY). It
208-410: A native development kit (NDK) for applications or extensions in C or C++, Google App Inventor , a visual environment for novice programmers, and various cross platform mobile web applications frameworks . In January 2014, Google unveiled a framework based on Apache Cordova for porting Chrome HTML 5 web applications to Android, wrapped in a native application shell. Additionally, Firebase
312-408: A weather forecast , the user's email inbox, or a news ticker directly on the home screen. A home screen may be made up of several pages, between which the user can swipe back and forth. Third-party apps available on Google Play and other app stores can extensively re- theme the home screen, and even mimic the look of other operating systems, such as Windows Phone . Most manufacturers customize
416-510: A British family £1700.41 after their son had purchased countless microtransactions whilst playing the F2P game Zombies vs. Ninjas . Pointing to the disruptive effect of free-to-play on current models, IGN editor Charles Onyett stated in 2011 that "expensive, one-time purchases are facing extinction". He believes that the current method of paying a one-time fee for most games will eventually disappear completely. Greg Zeschuk of BioWare believes there
520-399: A PC and mobile operating system, based on Android, to "compete directly with Microsoft Windows and Google Android". The Chinese Academy of Engineering noted that "more than a dozen" companies were customizing Android following a Chinese ban on the use of Windows 8 on government PCs. Android is developed by Google until the latest changes and updates are ready to be released, at which point
624-694: A choice of non-default runtimes that allow better C++ support. The SDK includes a comprehensive set of development tools, including a debugger , software libraries , a handset emulator based on QEMU , documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Initially, Google's supported integrated development environment (IDE) was Eclipse using the Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin; in December 2014, Google released Android Studio , based on IntelliJ IDEA , as its primary IDE for Android application development. Other development tools are available, including
728-485: A deal with Massive Incorporated , which lets Massive update and change in-game advertising in real-time within EA games. Independent game developer Edmund McMillen has claimed that he makes most of his money from sponsors by placing advertisements into the introduction of a game and the game's title screen . Matt Mihaly created the first known business model of exchanging virtual items for money in an online game, in 1997 for
832-402: A fluid touch interface, often using the vibration capabilities of the device to provide haptic feedback to the user. Internal hardware, such as accelerometers , gyroscopes and proximity sensors are used by some applications to respond to additional user actions, for example adjusting the screen from portrait to landscape depending on how the device is oriented, or allowing the user to steer
936-473: A free-to-play one has proven very beneficial in some cases. Star Wars: The Old Republic is a good example of a game that transitioned from subscription to free-to-play. Turbine as of September 10, 2010, has given an F2P with Cash shop option to The Lord of the Rings Online which resulted in a tripling of profit. Sony Online Entertainment 's move to transition EverQuest from a subscription model into
1040-502: A game is considered pay-to-win when a player can gain any advantage over their non-paying peers. Market research indicates that pay-to-win mechanics are considered much more acceptable by players in China than in Western countries, possibly because Chinese players are more habituated to recurring costs associated with gaming, such as gaming café fees. A common suggestion for avoiding pay-to-win
1144-410: A game that requires relatively low system requirements and at no cost, and consequently provides a highly accessible experience funded by advertising and micropayments for extra content or an advantage over other players. Free-to-play is newer than the pay to play model, and the video game industry is still attempting to determine the best ways to maximize revenue from their games. Gamers have cited
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#17328768026971248-464: A hybrid F2P/subscription game was followed by a 125% spike in item sales, a 150% up-tick in unique log-ins, and over three times as many account registrations. The movement of free-to-play MMOs into the mainstream also coincided with experimentation with other genres as well. The model was picked up by larger developers and more diverse genres, with games such as Battlefield Heroes , Free Realms , Quake Live and Team Fortress 2 appearing in
1352-569: A keyboard and mouse. In addition to their availability on commercially available hardware, similar PC hardware-friendly versions of Android are freely available from the Android-x86 project, including customized Android 4.4. Using the Android emulator that is part of the Android SDK , or third-party emulators, Android can also run non-natively on x86 architectures. Chinese companies are building
1456-513: A merger of the French, Thai, and Asian (English) versions, closed on June 30, 2016. After releasing the mobile spinoff Unlight: SchizoChronicle , Techway announced the suspension of the original browser game - the Chinese versions were closed on September 7, 2017 while the Japanese version followed suit on October 18 the same year. The spinoff Unlight: SchizoChronicle closed a year later. On July 30, 2019,
1560-594: A point where their servers had to be upgraded every week in September 2011. The popularity of Unlight in Taiwan is attributed to the game's unique setting, good gameplay, female-friendly elements, and a successful promotional campaign targeted at gamers. In 2014, Techway gave Glitter, a Korean studio, the rights to develop Unlight Trinity , an Android game featuring characters from Unlight . In September 2015, Techway released an Unlight-themed match-3 puzzle game Puzlight on
1664-564: A press conference in a New York City subway station . Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Each major release is named in alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat, with the first few Android versions being called " Cupcake ", " Donut ", " Eclair ", and " Froyo ", in that order. During its announcement of Android KitKat in 2013, Google explained that "Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version
1768-647: A quest, or refer a friend to the game . Many browser games have an "energy bar" that depletes when the player takes actions. These games then sell items such as coffee or snacks to refill the bar. Free-to-play games are free to install and play, but once the player enters the game, the player is able to purchase content such as items, maps, and expanded customization options. Some games, such as id Software's Quake Live , also use in-game advertising to provide income for free-to-play games. In addition to making in-game items available for purchase, EA integrates in-game advertising into its games. In August 2007, EA completed
1872-632: A range of other electronics, such as game consoles , digital cameras , portable media players , and PCs , each with a specialized user interface. Some well-known derivatives include Android TV for televisions and Wear OS for wearables , both developed by Google. Software packages on Android, which use the APK format, are generally distributed through proprietary application stores like Google Play Store , Amazon Appstore , Samsung Galaxy Store , Huawei AppGallery , Cafe Bazaar , GetJar , and Aptoide , or open source platforms like F-Droid . Android has been
1976-544: A report from mobile advertising company firm SWRV stated that only 1.5 percent of players opted to pay for in-game items, and that 50 percent of the revenue for such games often came from just ten percent of players. Nevertheless The Washington Post noted that the developers of two such games, Supercell ( Clash of Clans ) and Machine Zone ( Game of War: Fire Age ), were able to afford Super Bowl commercials in 2015 featuring big-name celebrities (respectively Liam Neeson and Kate Upton ). The latter, Game of War ,
2080-469: A split-screen view mode are the 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 , the former of which received this feature with the premium suite upgrade delivered in TouchWiz with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. When connecting or disconnecting charging power and when shortly actuating the power button or home button, all while the device is powered off, a visual battery meter whose appearance varies among vendors appears on
2184-415: A time limit; after this expires, the item must be repurchased before the user can continue. Another commonly seen mechanic is the use of two in-game currencies: one earned through normal gameplay, and another which can be purchased with real-world money. The second, "premium" currency is sometimes given out in small amounts to non-paying players at certain times, such as when they first start the game, complete
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#17328768026972288-430: A vehicle in a racing game by rotating the device, simulating control of a steering wheel . Android devices boot to the home screen , the primary navigation and information "hub" on Android devices, analogous to the desktop found on personal computers. Android home screens are typically made up of app icons and widgets ; app icons launch the associated app, whereas widgets display live, auto-updating content, such as
2392-457: A whole lot like the program has wrapped up". From 2008 to 2013, Hugo Barra served as product spokesperson, representing Android at press conferences and Google I/O , Google's annual developer-focused conference. He left Google in August 2013 to join Chinese phone maker Xiaomi . Less than six months earlier, Google's then- CEO Larry Page announced in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from
2496-613: Is a good possibility that free-to-play would become the dominant pricing plan for games, but that it was very unlikely that it would ever completely replace subscription-based games. Developers such as Electronic Arts have pointed to the success of freemium, saying that microtransactions will inevitably be part of every game. While noting the success of some developers with the model, companies such as Nintendo have remained skeptical of free-to-play, preferring to stick to more traditional models of game development and sales. In February 2015 Apple began featuring popular non-freemium software on
2600-424: Is also separate from freeware games, which are entirely costless. Free-to-play's model is sometimes derisively referred to as free-to-start due to not being entirely free. Free-to-play games have also been widely criticized as " pay-to-win "—that is, that players can generally pay to obtain competitive or power advantages over other players. There are several kinds of free-to-play business models. The most common
2704-434: Is based on the freemium software model, in which users are granted access to a fully functional game but are incentivised to pay microtransactions to access additional content or more powerful in-game assets. Sometimes the content is entirely blocked without payment; other times it requires immense time 'unlocking' it for non-paying players, and paying the fee speeds the unlocking process. Another method of generating revenue
2808-640: Is expanding its low-cost Android One program into the United States, although The Verge notes that the company will presumably not produce the actual devices itself. Google introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones in October 2016, marketed as being the first phones made by Google, and exclusively featured certain software features, such as the Google Assistant , before wider rollout. The Pixel phones replaced
2912-438: Is for payments to only be used to broaden the experience without affecting gameplay. For example, some games, such as Dota 2 , Fortnite Battle Royale and StarCraft II , only allow the purchase of cosmetic items, meaning that a player who has spent money on the game will still be on the same level as a player who has not. Others suggest finding a balance where a game encourages players to pay for extra content that enhances
3016-438: Is low, the system will begin invisibly and automatically closing inactive processes, starting with those that have been inactive for the longest amount of time. Lifehacker reported in 2011 that third-party task-killer applications were doing more harm than good. Some settings for use by developers for debugging and power users are located in a "Developer options" sub menu, such as the ability to highlight updating parts of
3120-426: Is named after a dessert", although a Google spokesperson told CNN in an interview that "It's kind of like an internal team thing, and we prefer to be a little bit—how should I say—a bit inscrutable in the matter, I'll say". In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices, a lineup in which Google partnered with different device manufacturers to produce new devices and introduce new Android versions. The series
3224-830: Is primarily developed by Google . It was unveiled in November 2007, with the first commercial Android device, the HTC Dream , being launched in September 2008. At its core, the operating system is known as the Android Open Source Project ( AOSP ) and is free and open-source software (FOSS) primarily licensed under the Apache License . However, most devices run the proprietary Android version developed by Google, which ships with additional proprietary closed-source software pre-installed, most notably Google Mobile Services (GMS), which includes core apps such as Google Chrome ,
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3328-512: Is the latest version and includes improvements specific to foldable phones , tablets, desktop -sized screens , and Chromebooks . Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California , in October 2003 by Andy Rubin , Rich Miner , Nick Sears, and Chris White. Rubin described the Android project as having "tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences". The early intentions of
3432-484: Is the number of players that a game can keep continuously engaged, followed by how many compelling spending opportunities the game offers its players. With free games that include in-game purchases, two particularly important things occur: first, more people will try out the game since there is zero cost to doing so and second, revenue will likely be more than a traditional game since different players can now spend different amounts of money that depend on their engagement with
3536-693: Is the primary application store installed on Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements and license the Google Mobile Services software. Google Play Store allows users to browse, download and update applications published by Google and third-party developers; as of January 2021 , there are more than three million applications available for Android in Play Store. As of July 2013 , 50 billion application installations had been performed. Some carriers offer direct carrier billing for Google Play application purchases, where
3640-790: Is the tendency for free games to constantly request that the player buy extra content, in a similar vein to nagware and trialware 's frequent demands for the user to "upgrade". Payment may be required in order to survive or continue in the game, annoying or distracting the player from the experience. Some psychologists, such as Mark D. Griffiths , have criticized the mechanics of freemium games as exploitative, drawing direct parallels to gambling addiction . The ubiquitous and often intrusive use of microtransactions in free-to-play games has sometimes caused children to either inadvertently or deliberately pay for large amounts of virtual items, often for drastically high amounts of real money. In February 2013, Eurogamer reported that Apple had agreed to refund
3744-506: Is the top engrossing Facebook game in Asia. In 2014, the game won gold in the foreign browser game category for the 2014 Game Star award at the Taipei Game Show . Set in a "medieval gothic" world, the player assumes the role of an automaton given life by a "Saint of Flame" to recover the memories of warriors who have died in another world. The international English version on Facebook, itself
3848-521: Is the world's most widely used operating system due to it being used on most smartphones and tablets outside of iPhones and iPads , which use Apple 's iOS and iPadOS , respectively. As of October 2024 , Android accounts for 45% of the global operating system market , followed by Windows with 26%. Android has historically been developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance , but its most widely used version
3952-535: Is to integrate advertisements into the game. And another is to sell cosmetic upgrades such as new outfits: these upgrades do not necessarily help the player win or compete. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games targeted towards casual gamers , before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game publishers to combat video game piracy . The model has been used by games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic , Apex Legends , Fortnite Battle Royale , and
4056-470: Is used by default), and adoptable storage. Portable storage is treated as an external storage device. Adoptable storage, introduced on Android 6.0, allows the internal storage of the device to be spanned with the SD card, treating it as an extension of the internal storage. This has the disadvantage of preventing the memory card from being used with another device unless it is reformatted . Android 4.4 introduced
4160-638: The Amazon Appstore , GetJar , and SlideMe. F-Droid , another alternative marketplace, seeks to only provide applications that are distributed under free and open source licenses . In October 2020, Google removed several Android applications from Play Store , as they were identified breaching its data collection rules. The firm was informed by International Digital Accountability Council (IDAC) that apps for children like Number Coloring , Princess Salon and Cats & Cosplay , with collective downloads of 20 million, were violating Google's policies. At
4264-536: The Android software development kit (SDK) and, often, Kotlin programming language, which replaced Java as Google's preferred language for Android app development in May 2019, and was originally announced in May 2017. Java is still supported (originally the only option for user-space programs, and is often mixed with Kotlin), as is C++ . Java or other JVM languages, such as Kotlin, may be combined with C /C++, together with
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4368-518: The Open Handset Alliance , a consortium of technology companies including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung, wireless carriers such as Sprint and T-Mobile , and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments , unveiled itself, with a goal to develop "the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices". Within a year, the Open Handset Alliance faced two other open source competitors,
4472-575: The People's Republic of China . Microtransaction -based free-to-play mobile games and browser games such as Puzzle & Dragons , Kantai Collection and The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls also have large player populations in Japan. In particular, the Nikkei Shimbun reported that Cinderella Girls earns over 1 billion yen in revenue monthly from microtransactions. Electronic Arts first adopted
4576-556: The Symbian Foundation and the LiMo Foundation , the latter also developing a Linux -based mobile operating system like Google. In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony. On September 23, 2008, Android was introduced by Andy Rubin, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Cole Brodman, Christopher Schlaeffer and Peter Chou at
4680-729: The Windows 11 announcement event in June 2021, Microsoft showcased the new Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) to enable support for the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), but it has since been deprecated. It was meant to allow users running Android apps and games in Windows 11 on their Windows desktop. On March 5, 2024, Microsoft announced deprecation of WSA with support ending on March 5, 2025. The storage of Android devices can be expanded using secondary devices such as SD cards . Android recognizes two types of secondary storage: portable storage (which
4784-400: The digital distribution platform Google Play , and the associated Google Play Services development platform. Firebase Cloud Messaging is used for push notifications. While AOSP is free, the "Android" name and logo are trademarks of Google, which imposes standards to restrict the use of Android branding by "uncertified" devices outside their ecosystem. Over 70% of smartphones based on
4888-523: The source code is made available to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), an open source initiative led by Google. The first source code release happened as part of the initial release in 2007. All releases are under the Apache License . The AOSP code can be found with minimal modifications on select devices, mainly the former Nexus and current Android One series of devices. However, most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) customize
4992-500: The "Darkroom", or bought in the "Shop" with in-game currency. All game modes use AP (action points), which replenish at 1 point per 30 minutes. The art of Unlight is gothic in the style of American comic books , drawn by the illustrator Miya. Unlight was developed by a 5 employee-company at first, and first launched on Yahoo Mobage in 2010. With the release of multiple language versions, its popularity, especially in Taiwan , grew to
5096-438: The "Move phase", where players play their purple "movement" cards to determine the distance between the character and the opponent. The player with the higher move points gets to attack first. In the "Attack phase", the player can use red "sword" cards to attack at close range or green "gun" cards to attack at long range; playing the appropriate cards according to the distance would accumulate attack points, which are matched against
5200-515: The Android Open Source Project run Google's ecosystem (which is known simply as Android), some with vendor-customized user interfaces and software suites, such as TouchWiz and later One UI by Samsung and HTC Sense . Competing ecosystems and forks of AOSP include Fire OS developed by Amazon , ColorOS by Oppo , OriginOS by Vivo , MagicUI by Honor , and custom ROMs such as LineageOS , as well as Meta Horizon OS for VR headsets . Android's source code has been used to develop variants on
5304-531: The Android division to take on new projects at Google, and that Sundar Pichai would become the new Android lead. Pichai himself would eventually switch positions, becoming the new CEO of Google in August 2015 following the company's restructure into the Alphabet conglomerate, making Hiroshi Lockheimer the new head of Android. On Android 4.4 , KitKat , shared writing access to MicroSD memory cards has been locked for user-installed applications, to which only
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#17328768026975408-409: The Android platform. On July 23, 2017, Techway released a Dominion -inspired smartphone game Unlight: SchizoChronicle for the Android platform, with an iOS version released some time later. These spinoffs were all shut down by August 24, 2018. In October 2018, the intellectual property rights to the game were transferred to CPA Co. Ltd., a company started by Unlight's illustrator Miya, who released
5512-514: The Android version and manufacturer. Many early Android OS smartphones were equipped with a dedicated search button for quick access to a web search engine and individual apps' internal search feature. More recent devices typically allow the former through a long press or swipe away from the home button. The dedicated option key, also known as menu key, and its on-screen simulation, is no longer supported since Android version 10. Google recommends mobile application developers to locate menus within
5616-517: The App Store as "Pay Once & Play", describing them as "Great Games with No In-App Purchases ... hours of uninterrupted fun with complete experiences". Android (operating system) Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen -based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets . It
5720-634: The Nexus series, with a new generation of Pixel phones launched in October 2017. In May 2019, the operating system became entangled in the trade war between China and the United States involving Huawei , which, like many other tech firms, had become dependent on access to the Android platform. In the summer of 2019, Huawei announced it would create an alternative operating system to Android known as Harmony OS , and has filed for intellectual property rights across major global markets. Under such sanctions Huawei has long-term plans to replace Android in 2022 with
5824-493: The SAF to access any other part of the filesystem. Since Android devices are usually battery-powered, Android is designed to manage processes to keep power consumption at a minimum. When an application is not in use the system suspends its operation so that, while available for immediate use rather than closed, it does not use battery power or CPU resources. Android manages the applications stored in memory automatically: when memory
5928-479: The Storage Access Framework (SAF), a set of APIs for accessing files on the device's filesystem. As of Android 11, Android has required apps to conform to a data privacy policy known as scoped storage , under which apps may only automatically have access to certain directories (such as those for pictures, music, and video), and app-specific directories they have created themselves. Apps are required to use
6032-453: The ability to adjust the flashlight brightness. Notifications are "short, timely, and relevant information about your app when it's not in use", and when tapped, users are directed to a screen inside the app relating to the notification. Beginning with Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" , "expandable notifications" allow the user to tap an icon on the notification in order for it to expand and display more information and possible app actions right from
6136-519: The basket we're putting our eggs in—is that 'free' will soon be disassociated with [sic] 'shallow' and 'cruddy'." However, another noted that developing freeware games gave developers the largest amount of creative freedom, especially when compared to developing console games, which requires that the game follow the criteria as laid out by the game's publisher. Many kinds of revenue are being experimented with. For example, with its Free Realms game targeted to children and casual gamers, Sony makes money from
6240-479: The company in July of that year for at least $ 50 million; this was Google's "best deal ever" according to Google's then-vice president of corporate development, David Lawee , in 2010. Android's key employees, including Rubin, Miner, Sears, and White, joined Google as part of the acquisition. Not much was known about the secretive Android Inc. at the time, with the company having provided few details other than that it
6344-513: The company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras , and this was the basis of its pitch to investors in April 2004. The company then decided that the market for cameras was not large enough for its goals, and five months later it had diverted its efforts and was pitching Android as a handset operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile . Rubin had difficulty attracting investors early on, and Android
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#17328768026976448-555: The cost of the application is added to the user's monthly bill. As of May 2017 , there are over one billion active users a month for Gmail, Android, Chrome, Google Play and Maps. Due to the open nature of Android, a number of third-party application marketplaces also exist for Android, either to provide a substitute for devices that are not allowed to ship with Google Play Store, provide applications that cannot be offered on Google Play Store due to policy violations, or for other reasons. Examples of these third-party stores have included
6552-511: The dedicated directories with respective package names, located inside Android/data/ , remained writeable. Writing access has been reinstated with Android 5 Lollipop through the backwards-incompatible Google Storage Access Framework interface . In June 2014, Google announced Android One , a set of "hardware reference models" that would "allow [device makers] to easily create high-quality phones at low costs", designed for consumers in developing countries. In September, Google announced
6656-567: The display, show an overlay with the current status of the touch screen, show touching spots for possible use in screencasting , notify the user of unresponsive background processes with the option to end them ("Show all ANRs", i.e. "App's Not Responding"), prevent a Bluetooth audio client from controlling the system volume ("Disable absolute volume"), and adjust the duration of transition animations or deactivate them completely to speed up navigation. Developer options are initially hidden since Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean", but can be enabled by actuating
6760-399: The fact that purchasing a game for a fixed price is still inherently satisfying because the consumer knows exactly what they will be receiving, compared to free-to-play which requires that the player pay for most new content that they wish to obtain. The term itself, "free-to-play", has been described as one with a negative connotation. One video game developer noted this, stating, "Our hope—and
6864-573: The first set of Android One phones for release in India. However, Recode reported in June 2015 that the project was "a disappointment", citing "reluctant consumers and manufacturing partners" and "misfires from the search company that has never quite cracked hardware". Plans to relaunch Android One surfaced in August 2015, with Africa announced as the next location for the program a week later. A report from The Information in January 2017 stated that Google
6968-540: The flagship title Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands for his corporation originally Achaea LLC that later became Iron Realms Entertainment . The free-to-play business model in online games was later realized by Nexon in South Korea to a degree first catching more major media attention at the time. The first Nexon game to use it, QuizQuiz , was released in October 1999. Its creator Lee Seungchan would go on to create MapleStory . The free-to-play model originated in
7072-534: The free-to-play concept in one of its games when it released FIFA Online in Korea. In the late 2000s, many MMOs transitioned to the free-to-play model from subscriptions, including subscription-based games such as The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar , Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures , Dungeons & Dragons Online , and Champions Online . This move from a subscription based model to
7176-626: The game Fortnite , they found that since the in-game currency does not have a unique exchange rate, it can conceal the true cost of an in-game purchase, resulting in players potentially paying more than they realize. In 2021 the study was used to take legal action against Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite . In some games, players who are willing to pay for special items, downloadable content , or to skip cooldown timers may be able to gain an advantage over those playing for free who might otherwise hardly be able to access said items. Such games are called " pay-to-win " (abbreviated as "P2W"). In general
7280-438: The game and their preferences towards it. Player populations that spend money on free-to-play games can be broken up into terms that borrow from gambling: " whales " which typically are the smallest segment, up to around 10% of players, but are willing to spend the most on a game; "dolphins" which represent a larger portion of around 40% of players who spend some money but not as much as whales; and "minnows", representing about half
7384-480: The game without making the free version feel limited by comparison. This theory is that players who do not pay for items would still increase awareness of it through word of mouth marketing, which ultimately benefits the game indirectly. In response to concerns about players using payments to gain an advantage in the game, titles such as World of Tanks have explicitly committed to not giving paying players any advantages over their non-paying peers, while allowing
7488-437: The issue. Android's default user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation , using touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard . Game controllers and full-size physical keyboards are supported via Bluetooth or USB . The response to user input is designed to be immediate and provides
7592-464: The late 1990s and early 2000s, coming from a series of highly successful MMOs targeted towards children and casual gamers, including Furcadia , Neopets , RuneScape , MapleStory , and text-based dungeons such as Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands . Known for producing innovative titles, small independent developers also continue to release free-to-play games. Free-to-play games are particularly prevalent in countries such as South Korea and
7696-502: The late 2000s. The experimentation was not successful in every genre, however. Traditional real time strategy franchises such as Age of Empires and Command & Conquer both attempted free-to-play titles. Age of Empires Online was shut down in the midst of a tiny player base and stagnant revenue, and Command & Conquer: Generals 2 was shut down in alpha due to negative reactions from players. In 2011, revenue from free-to-play games overtook revenue from premium games in
7800-559: The look and features of their Android devices to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Along the top of the screen is a status bar, showing information about the device and its connectivity. This status bar can be pulled (swiped) down from to reveal a notification screen where apps display important information or updates, as well as quick access to system controls and toggles such as display brightness, connectivity settings ( WiFi , Bluetooth, cellular data), audio mode, and flashlight . Vendors may implement extended settings such as
7904-467: The majority of the MOBA games, which offer the "full version" of a product free of charge, while users are charged micropayments to access premium features and virtual goods , often in a piecemeal fashion. In-game items can be purely cosmetic, enhance the power of the player, accelerate progression speed, and many more. A common technique used by developers of these games is for the items purchased to have
8008-481: The mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006. An early prototype had a close resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keyboard , but the arrival of 2007's Apple iPhone meant that Android "had to go back to the drawing board". Google later changed its Android specification documents to state that "Touchscreens will be supported", although "the Product
8112-607: The most common screen. Android supports all versions of OpenGL ES and Vulkan (and version 1.1 available for some devices ). Android devices incorporate many optional hardware components, including still or video cameras, GPS , orientation sensors , dedicated gaming controls, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, magnetometers , proximity sensors, pressure sensors , thermometers, and touchscreens . Some hardware components are not required, but became standard in certain classes of devices, such as smartphones, and additional requirements apply if they are present. Some other hardware
8216-475: The most used operating system worldwide on smartphones since 2011 and on tablets since 2013. As of May 2021 , it has over three billion monthly active users , the largest installed base of any operating system in the world, and, as of 2024 , the Google Play Store features 1.7 million apps; a decline from its of peak of over 3 million apps in April 2021. Android 15 , released on October 15, 2024,
8320-513: The new operating system, as Harmony OS was originally designed for internet of things devices, rather than for smartphones and tablets. On August 22, 2019, it was announced that Android "Q" would officially be branded as Android 10, ending the historic practice of naming major versions after desserts. Google stated that these names were not "inclusive" to international users (due either to the aforementioned foods not being internationally known, or being difficult to pronounce in some languages). On
8424-409: The notification. An "All Apps" screen lists all installed applications, with the ability for users to drag an app from the list onto the home screen. The app list may be accessed using a gesture or a button, depending on the Android version. A "Recents" screen, also known as "Overview", lets users switch between recently used apps. The recent list may appear side-by-side or overlapping, depending on
8528-546: The official support. Since 2012, Android devices with Intel processors began to appear, including phones and tablets. While gaining support for 64-bit platforms, Android was first made to run on 64-bit x86 and then on ARM64 . An unofficial experimental port of the operating system to the RISC-V architecture was released in 2021. Requirements for the minimum amount of RAM for devices running Android 7.1 range from in practice 2 GB for best hardware, down to 1 GB for
8632-526: The operating system's build number in the device information seven times. Hiding developers options again requires deleting user data for the "Settings" app, possibly resetting some other preferences. The main hardware platform for Android is ARM (the ARMv7 and ARMv8-A architectures), with x86 and x86-64 architectures also officially supported in later versions of Android. The unofficial Android-x86 project provided support for x86 architectures ahead of
8736-460: The opponent's defence points. The party being attacked would be in the "Defence phase", where the player can use blue "shield" cards to accumulate defence points. The attack and defence points represent how many dies are rolled, and only the dies with the emblem facing up are counted towards the actual attack/defence points. Damage is calculated by subtracting the actual attack points by the defence points. The attacker and defender then switch roles, and
8840-475: The player to heal HP, recover from status effects , draw more cards, etc. A player wins the battle if the opposing player's characters all end up with 0 hit points , or 18 turns have elapsed and the player's sum of the characters' hit points is higher than those of the opponent. Players can customize their decks, which are composed of four types of cards: character, equipment, monster, and event. Cards can be obtained as drops in all game modes, as random draws in
8944-422: The player who attacked first now enter the "Defence phase" while the other player enter the "Attack phase". After the two players have exchanged blows, the turn ends. In all phases the character can activate their individual skills by playing the specific combination of cards for those skills. The skills' effects vary, and most need the yellow "special" cards to activate. There are also miscellaneous cards which allow
9048-556: The population, who spend the barest amount to maintain activity. As a result of this distribution, whales typically provide most of the revenue in free to play games, and in some cases, 50% of the revenue comes from 0.15% of players ("white whales") in one report. It is not unlikely for a very few players to spend tens of thousands of dollars in a game that they enjoy. For PC gaming specifically, two challenges exist: video game piracy and demanding system requirements. The free-to-play model attempts to solve both these problems by providing
9152-435: The product with advertisements on loading screens , free virtual goods sponsored by companies such as Best Buy , a subscription option to unlock extra content, a collectible card game , a comic book , and micropayment items that include character customization options. In 2020, a study from Germany concluded that some free-to-play games use the "money illusion" as a form to hide the true cost of products. When they examined
9256-520: The same day, Android Police reported that Google had commissioned a statue of a giant number "10" to be installed in the lobby of the developers' new office. Android 10 was released on September 3, 2019, to Google Pixel phones first. In late 2021, some users reported that they were unable to dial emergency services. The problem was caused by a combination of bugs in Android and in the Microsoft Teams app; both companies released updates addressing
9360-419: The screen, allowing the user to quickly assess the charge status of a powered-off without having to boot it up first. Some display the battery percentage. Most Android devices come with preinstalled Google apps including Gmail, Google Maps, Google Chrome, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, and others. Applications (" apps "), which extend the functionality of devices (and must be 64-bit ), are written using
9464-468: The source code of the browser game under the CC-BY-ND license on July 30, 2019. Free-to-play Free-to-play ( F2P or FtP ) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which requires a payment before using the game or service . It
9568-452: The source code of the original Unlight was released under the CC-BY-ND license , allowing fan communities to run their own versions of the game. The game involves up to 3 character (or monster) cards duelling another party of 1~3 characters or monsters. At the beginning of each turn (the "Draw phase"), each player draws a certain number of event cards with points on them, which determines the character's actions this turn. After drawing comes
9672-467: The top 100 games in Apple's App Store. The percentage of people that spend money on in-game items in these games ranges from 0.5% to 6%, depending on a game's quality and mechanics . Even though this means that a large number of people will never spend money in a game, it also means that the people that do spend money could amount to a sizeable number due to the fact that the game was given away for free. Indeed
9776-495: The user interface. On more recent phones, its place is occupied by a task key used to access the list of recently used apps when actuated. Depending on device, its long press may simulate a menu button press or engage split screen view, the latter of which is the default behaviour since stock Android version 7. Native support for split screen view has been added in stock Android version 7.0 Nougat . The earliest vendor-customized Android-based smartphones known to have featured
9880-518: The users buying the "gold" or "premium" ammo and expendables without paying the real money. However, features affecting gameplay and win rate , such as purchasing a 100% crew training level, a premium account, premium vehicles, and converting experience points to free experience points, remain available for the paying customers only. Play-to-earn, also known as pay-to-earn, is a model of monetization that uses cryptocurrency and other blockchain technologies. In single-player games, another concern
9984-434: Was acquired by Google in 2014 that provides helpful tools for app and web developers. Android has a growing selection of third-party applications, which can be acquired by users by downloading and installing the application's APK (Android application package) file, or by downloading them using an application store program that allows users to install, update, and remove applications from their devices. Google Play Store
10088-490: Was described as having "played a pivotal role in Android's history by introducing new software iterations and hardware standards across the board", and became known for its " bloat-free " software with "timely ... updates". At its developer conference in May 2013, Google announced a special version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 , where, instead of using Samsung's own Android customization, the phone ran "stock Android" and
10192-472: Was designed with the presence of discrete physical buttons as an assumption, therefore a touchscreen cannot completely replace physical buttons". By 2008, both Nokia and BlackBerry announced touch-based smartphones to rival the iPhone 3G , and Android's focus eventually switched to just touchscreens. The first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream , also known as T-Mobile G1, announced on September 23, 2008. On November 5, 2007,
10296-432: Was facing eviction from its office space. Steve Perlman , a close friend of Rubin, brought him $ 10,000 in cash in an envelope, and shortly thereafter wired an undisclosed amount as seed funding. Perlman refused a stake in the company, and has stated "I did it because I believed in the thing, and I wanted to help Andy." In 2005, Rubin tried to negotiate deals with Samsung and HTC . Shortly afterwards, Google acquired
10400-466: Was in Game of War: Fire Age , where the players that bought products on average spent $ 550. The free-to-play model has been described as a shift from the traditional model, also known as premium-priced games, where consumers paid for the cost of the game upfront and the game's success was measured by multiplying the number of units of a game sold by the unit price. Within free-to-play, the most important factor
10504-593: Was in fact, part of a roughly $ 40 million campaign starring Upton. As of 2012, free-to-play MOBAs , such as League of Legends , Dota 2 , Heroes of the Storm , and Smite had become among the most popular PC games. The success in the genre has helped convince many video game publishers to copy the free-to-play MOBA model. During 2015, Slice Intelligence tracked people that bought products in mobile video games, and these players spent an average of $ 87 in free-to-play games. The highest spending per player in 2015
10608-586: Was initially required, but those requirements have been relaxed or eliminated altogether. For example, as Android was developed initially as a phone OS, hardware such as microphones were required, while over time the phone function became optional. Android used to require an autofocus camera, which was relaxed to a fixed-focus camera if present at all, since the camera was dropped as a requirement entirely when Android started to be used on set-top boxes . In addition to running on smartphones and tablets, several vendors run Android natively on regular PC hardware with
10712-466: Was making software for mobile phones. At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel . Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system. Google had "lined up a series of hardware components and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation". Speculation about Google's intention to enter
10816-683: Was promised to receive new system updates fast. The device would become the start of the Google Play edition program, and was followed by other devices, including the HTC One Google Play edition, and Moto G Google Play edition. In 2015, Ars Technica wrote that "Earlier this week, the last of the Google Play edition Android phones in Google's online storefront were listed as "no longer available for sale" and that "Now they're all gone, and it looks
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