Amazon has announced that it is shutting down its “Underground Actually Free” from May 31, 2017. This program has been a prominent platform provided by Amazon in 2015, which offers free versions of Android utility and game apps like Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions, Monument Valley, or Office Suite Pro 8 for the users of Fire Tablet along with normal Android phones.
“While we will continue to expand the Amazon Appstore experience, we have decided to discontinue the Underground Actually Free program. All support for the program will end in 2019. Access to the Underground Actually Free store through Amazon’s Appstore for Android devices will end in summer 2017. As of May 31st, 2017, Amazon will no longer accept new app and game submissions for the Underground Actually Free program.”
However, the company says that the Android customers will continue to have access to the Amazon Underground app to shop for physical goods and access Prime Video content, and the revenue model will remain the same as in the developer agreement, i.e., developers will get paid for every minute a customer spends on their app. Also, the updates for already published apps can be submitted until the final shut down in 2019.
As stated in the announcement,
"Developers can now earn revenue outside their game by converting game characters and imagery into branded t-shirts via Merch by Amazon. And with Amazon Coins, Appstore customers can save on every game in the Amazon Appstore."
Well, it all hints that Amazon is focusing its Appstore and we might soon be seeing something good. Let’s hope for the best.