Bitcoin is increasing its presence in the App Store, with Apple approving a second Bitcoin tipping-enabled app by the same developer.
The app, Game of Birds, incorporates a Bitcoin tipping function for players to receive in-game rewards. The tool, which revolves around players collecting coins while playing the game, has been set up initially in partnership with Coinbase but will in future be available to any wallet address.
“The payment feature is simple: the game has its own wallet and the bitcoin that is sent to the users comes from this wallet,” Game of Birds’ Tokyo-based developer Christian Moss, who works under the Mandel Duck brand, told Cointelegraph. “The game’s wallet balance is supplied by sponsors in exchange for advertising space in the app, more advertising revenue results in more bitcoin that can be sent to the player.”
To start playing and collecting bitcoin tips:
“[A]ll the user needs to do is enter their email address in the app, after that they need to collect in-game bitcoins that are spread out through the levels, once a coin is collected then a small bitcoin tip is sent to their email.”
The app features a theme combining Game of Thrones and Angry Birds parody, and while the main ethos is not designed to be Bitcoin, Moss says, increasing Bitcoin’s profile among casual gamers is a main intention.
“I don't think that Bitcoin should or needs to be the main focus of the game and the game should be fun to play without receiving Bitcoin tips – the idea behind creating the game was to try and help Bitcoin become more mainstream, I thought that if a game as viral and as popular as say ‘Flappy Birds’ also sent the players Bitcoin imagine what that would do for Bitcoins image and adoption,” he explained.
“There is a lot of talk about developing the ‘killer app’ that will attract normal users to Bitcoin and I think that gaming is possibly where that app could be,” added Moss.
The authorization comes after the successful release of the same team’s previous app SaruTobi, and marks a continued trend at Apple to allow Bitcoin tipping within its hosted products. Following a series of U-turns regarding Bitcoin within iOS apps, the past year has seen a dramatic turnaround in Bitcoin’s fortunes among iOS users.
Topping the trending search list Sunday was even a Bitcoin-driven app, Bitcoin Billionaire, an occurrence which received no shortage of attention from online commentators. The app, which was launched in December 2014, has surpassed 3 million downloads.
Game of Birds is available to iOS users only, currently with a mandatory signup to Coinbase to facilitate transmission of tips earned during gameplay.