Amazon shutting down Underground 'actually free' game marketplace

Amazon has announced plans to wind down its Amazon Underground 'actually free' mobile marketplace less than two years after it launched.

The Underground program was first unveiled in August 2015, and gave Android users the chance to play a number of premium mobile games and apps, including those that made use of in-app purchases, free of charge.

Amazon was able to put forward such a unique deal after agreeing a plan with developers to pay them based on how many minutes users spent in their games and apps. The company also gained permission to display interstitial ads on top of those apps distributed via Underground. 

In the long-term, however, it looks like the intriguing initiative failed to take flight, and Amazon has now decided to end its experiment. 

As explained on the Amazon Developer blog, the initiative won't be scrapped immediately, and will be supported until 2019 before the lights are turned off for good. 

Fire tablet users will be able to use previously installed Underground apps and access the Underground store until that time, although those accessing the store through other Android devices will be locked out after this summer. 

As for those developers hoping to see their apps added to the Underground catalog, Amazon will no longer be accepting new app and game submissions as of May 31, 2017. 

All existing Amazon Underground devs will continue to get paid for every minute customers spend in their app, and will be able to publish updates until the program is laid to rest.