Telegram has expanded its gaming features with the addition of its internal app store. It is designed to become a platform for developers of mini apps.
A Mini App Store became available across all versions (mobile, web, desktop) with the latest Telegram update. It can be accessed through the messenger’s search, right between the Channels and Media tabs.
According to Telegram, more than 500 million of its 950 million MAU interact with mini apps every month. The new store feature should increase the number of users running applications or playing games in the messenger.
The Mini App Store lists the most popular mini apps on the platform and those previously launched by a user, also allowing to search for other products. However, there is no breakdown by category or genre (for games), nor are there any recommendations and other discoverability features.
Developers can now add short videos and screenshots to the Preview section on their app’s page. In addition, users will be able to share any created content from the apps (screenshots, leaderboards, AI-generated videos, etc.) to Telegram Stories.
All mini apps are opened in Telegram’s in-app browser, which also received a major update. Users can now collapse and reopen pages, as well as switch between messages and websites.
Many tech companies have been experimenting with this model for a while now. For example, Tencent has successfully made mini games an integral part of its social network business. The Chinese tech giant recently revealed that mini games on WeChat have reached 500 million MAU and over 1 billion unique users. In its latest annual report, Tencent also noted that gross revenue of mini games grew 50% year-over-year in 2023.