With Apple's ecosystem now more open than ever, a wave of new alternative app stores has emerged on iOS, each vying to be the first to truly succeed. The latest to enter this competitive arena is Skich, an alt store with a laser focus on gaming, aiming to carve out a niche against established players like Apptoide by emphasizing gaming over other app categories.
Skich's unique selling proposition lies in its robust discoverability system, which is built around three key features: a recommendation engine, a swipe-based discovery interface, and a social system that includes lists showing what games your friends and others with similar tastes are playing. These features may remind you of Steam, which is not a bad thing at all. The Epic Games Store on iOS, for instance, has been criticized for lacking the social and discovery elements that users of platforms like Steam and GOG have come to expect.
Big Fish, Small Pond?
Skich's emphasis on discoverability is certainly a strong selling point. However, the question remains whether this alone will be enough to make it stand out in the crowded altstore space. As I've noted previously, the key challenge for these new storefronts is to lure users away from their established habits.
Epic Games Store uses free games as its main draw, while Apptoide diversifies its offerings beyond gaming. Skich's gamer-centric approach has potential, but its success is far from guaranteed.
The landscape is shifting, though, with major publishers like EA and Flexion teaming up to focus on alternative app stores. This could signal a future where these new entrants might overshadow the traditional app stores. Skich's journey will be one to watch closely as it navigates this evolving market.
