Windows Store in SA

South Africa is among the 75 markets that will have have a localised Windows Store when Windows 8 launches on 26 October 2012 and users will be able to pay for apps with their credit card in Rand.

Microsoft announced on 11 September 2011 that it had added Windows Store support for an additional 82 markets, with South Africa listed as one of the countries that cracked the nod.

Windows corporate vice president, Antoine Leblond, announced at the time that developers in 120 markets could now publish apps on the Windows Store.

The Windows Store will be the only distribution point for WinRT apps that make use of Microsoft’s new Modern UI Style (previously Metro).

This has drawn criticism from video game developers such as Minecraft creator Markus Persson and id Software (Doom, Quake) founder John Carmack who are concerned about Microsoft controlling which WinRT apps get published.

A developer account costs R350/year for individuals and R700/year for companies, and some local developers have already announced that they have submitted their apps for certification.

Once approved an application becomes available for download from the store and developers can charge for the applications and receive a 70% share of the revenue. When an app achieves $25,000 (USD) in revenue, it increases to 80% revenue share for the lifetime of the app.

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