Google Play celebrates 25 billion app downloads with $0.25 games from Gameloft, EA, Rovio and more

It’s not Christmas yet, but if you happen to swing by Google Play in the next five days it’ll surely feel that way. And I’m not talking about that holiday feeling involving traffic jams, North Pole temperatures and family reunions with aunts and grandparents telling you web editing is not a real job. I’m talking presents and discounts, baby!

After reaching 20 billion app downloads less than three months ago, the former Android Market has now crossed another major landmark, jumping to 25 billion downloads. And while back in June there was no place for any special offers with the Nexus 7 and Jelly Bean launches giving us plenty of celebratory reasons, we should now start emptying up storage space on our phones and tablets.
A collection of apps from “some of the world’s top developers” will be available for just a quarter starting today and ending Sunday, on September 30. While Google has avoided to name any names of apps and games to go on sale, these will come from Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Runtastic, Full Fat and more, so the discounts might be in some cases more than just symbolic ones.
Furthermore, there will also be special collections at special prices in Google Play, including things like 25 movies you must own, 25 banned books, 25 albums that changed the world, or 25 top selling magazines. These will also be revealed and detailed a bit later, so be prepared to refresh Google Play like crazy in a couple of hours or so.

Android Market was launched on October 23 2008 and hit its first major milestone back in 2010, with 1 billion app downloads. After that bumpy and slow start, it all went uphill for Android, so it took less than a year for the billion to turn into three billions.
The 10 billion dollar milestone was reached in December 2011, which means that in less than a year that number grew 150%. Still, we are somewhat behind Apple’s App Store, according to Cnet, with Google Play reaching 25 billion downloads in 1,435 days, while the “enemy” managed to do it in just 1,334 days. No worries, because I think it’s pretty obvious who’ll come out on top in that battle in, say, a year or so.
The number of apps and games live in Google Play has also increased considerably over the past three months, from around 600,000 back in June to 675,000 now. Again, the App Store is still eclipsing us, with 700,000 titles currently available, but the gap is closing and closing and closing.
Stay tuned to find out specific details about the Google Play promotion going on these days, and in the meantime tell us what apps and games would you love to see slashed to just $0.25. I’ve got my eyes on EA’s NBA Jam and Dead Space, but also on Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. 3 and The Dark Knight Rises. Fingers crossed!

SOURCES Engadget

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