On the 3rd of August, 2023, Google organized Think Apps, a major offline event focused on apps and games, in Lahore, Pakistan. More than 500 developers and industry leaders gathered to discover how to promote Pakistani-made apps and games worldwide.
This event follows the success of Think Games and Gaming Growth Lab held last year in Pakistan. Google collaborated with over 1,600 developers and supported 50 early-stage gaming studios to compete globally. They also helped more than 5,000 Cloud developers and 3,000 Android developers enhance their skills through community-led programs like Cloud Seekho S5 and Android Seekho S2.
Pakistan is making a mark in the global gaming and app market, with its standing in the international app economy rising significantly. In 2023, Pakistan’s developers climbed from 27th to 16th place in terms of app downloads. In 2022 alone, apps developed in Pakistan were downloaded 4 billion times worldwide, showing a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% from 2018 to 2020. Moreover, 65 apps from 24 local developers reached the top 10 rankings on both the Play Store and App Store in the gaming and apps categories in 2022.
To support Pakistani studios and developers in seizing digital opportunities, Google is expanding its support through Think Apps. The program aims to bring global experts’ insights and trends to local developers and focuses on three key areas:
- Build for Quality: Encouraging developers to create high-quality games with strong gameplay and creative design to ensure success and engaging experiences for users.
- Build for Profitability: Assisting developers in using Google AI-powered ad solutions to fuel profitable growth, gain new users, and expand globally.
- Build for Sustainability: Empower developers to stay ahead of the competition, follow trends, and create competitive advantages for long-term success.
Farhan S. Qureshi, Google’s Director for Pakistan, expressed their commitment to invest in nurturing Pakistan’s developer ecosystem. He believes that Think Apps 2023 will enable more local developers to create excellent games and apps, grow exponentially, and scale globally with Google AI-powered solutions.
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