Clash of Clans is a big hit in China despite in-app payment disaster

Supercell’s newest game Clash of Clans is proving to be a big hit in China right now. According to one of China’s biggest third-party Android app stores, Wandoujia, it’s the top new game in the country with over 200,000 downloads this month from just that one app store.

But there’s a problem. The developers are not going to make much money from all the new Clash of Clans fans in China – though it’s not because of piracy, since it’s a free game. Instead, there’s a massive in-app payment mess-up going on whereby the new game uses only Google’s in-app billing but doesn’t have a localized solution in place for Chinese gamers.

As a result, notes Wandoujia’s newest China App Index for November, the popular game tries to force Chinese users to install the Google Play store, which few in the country use. But even that won’t work. That’s because Google’s app store in China doesn’t support paid apps, so there’s literally no way for Chinese gamers to get in-app schwag in Clash of Clans [1].

Of course, not all game developers make this mistake. Many find a local publishing partner to adapt their game for tough markets like China – as exemplified by the guys who make Fruit Ninja – or find a method to take in-app payments in a way that suits local consumers. For example, the studio could form a tie-up with a telco for carrier billing, use Alipay in China (like Paypal), or implement a third-party app store billing system (ie: not Google’s).

In-app purchases for Clash of Clans on iPhone work fine and very easily via Chinese iTunes accounts, so this is an Android-only issue in China.

If you’re curious, here’s Wandoujia’s full China App Index for November slideshow:

(Editing by Willis Wee)