Nimblebit sells Tiny Tower purchases direct, and keeps the 30%.

Nimblebit Studio has been making games in California since 2008, with a player-first approach that produced Tiny Tower and an audience all over the world. Growing revenue from that audience had become harder for two reasons at once.

Apple's changes to the Identifier for Advertisers made it much harder to target and acquire new users effectively. At the same time, app stores continued to take a significant cut of every in-app purchase, which limits how much can be reinvested in the games themselves.

Superscale, who specialise in scaling mobile games, suggested selling in-game items directly to players through a web store and bypassing app store fees altogether. The obstacle was that building one from scratch is expensive and slow.

Fungies provides a web store built for mobile games, so there was nothing to build. It includes search so players can find the item they want, a checkout that does not get in the way, and game asset integration so the store matches how the game looks.

Global tax compliance and 250+ payment methods came with it, which matters for a player base spread across the world.

The store went live at shop.nimblebit.com in a few hours, and saved Nimblebit over $100,000 against the cost of developing their own.

Avoiding the 30% app store commission means more of each sale stays with the studio. International payment options make buying straightforward wherever a player is, and with the technical side handled, Nimblebit is back to making games.