The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And now Microsoft has expanded the availability of its Windows Phone Store to no less than 42 new markets. Along with the expansion, the company has also announced new ratings requirements for games published in Russia and Taiwan. Microsoft let the news out on its official blog. According to the company, the new countries that will have access to the Windows Phone Store starting this week are: Angola, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (DRC), Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Whew! This brings the total number of markets where Windows Phone Store is available to 113. This is obviously just another milestone, as the number of markets is set to further increase in the comings months. Developers can now choose the worldwide distribution option for their apps in the Dev Center to maximize the reach of their smartphone applications. Microsoft has also updated their ratings requirements for games published in Russia and Taiwan to reflect the new mandatory requirements by the regulatory commissions of these two countries. Another small (but important thing) added in this update is a privacy URL, whereby developers can add in their privacy notice for their applications:
“By adding a link to your privacy notice, we can surface this important information in the Windows Phone Store for review by users prior to downloading your app”.Clever choice of words, there, fellas!]]>
