Facebook has launched its App Center in 8 countries, as the social network looks to boost its much scrutinised mobile business.
The social network has rolled out the service in United States, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
In the coming weeks, the company is launching the App Center to users in Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey.
The company said that people in these countries will now see the App Center bookmark on the left side of their home page on Facebook.com and in the Facebook apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
“Approximately 80% of people active on Facebook each month are outside the U.S. and Canada. The global rollout of the App Center will continue over the coming weeks so that more people can discover high quality games and apps with friends”, the company said.
It said that in the month since the App Center initially launched, the App Center helped millions of people discover new mobile and web apps. Specifically, game developer Kixeye has seen a lift in the quality of organic installs, and found that App Center traffic produces better than average revenue per user for its games War Commander and Battle Pirates. Similarly, a growing percentage of new players in Disney’s Marvel Avengers Alliance are originating from the App Center, and those users are more engaged than those who come through other channels.
The App Center lists high quality apps based on user feedback and orders them based on what a person is most likely to enjoy and the popularity in their country. Whenever possible, it shows app information in a person’s own language.
For example, if an app specifies English as their primary language but also provides translations for Spanish, It shows the translated version to Spanish speakers and the English version to everyone else.
To prepare for the broader rollout, the company has added the Localize tab to the App Dashboard. There, you can provide translations of user information (name, tagline, and descriptions) for use in the App Center and across Facebook.
Some of the most popular apps and games on Facebook were built by developers based outside of the U.S., such as Diamond Dash (Wooga, Germany), Bubble Witch Saga (King.com, U.K.), Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick, Australia), Angry Birds Friends (Rovio, Finland), Ninja Showdown (Noritown, South Korea), Soundcloud (Germany), Spotify (Sweden), and Deezer (France). The App Center makes it easier for people around the world to discover the best apps and games for them, wherever they are.