Update: Alto's Adventure is now available in the Play Store

Update, February 11: As promised, Alto’s Adventure is now available in the Play Store. What has been praised as one of the best mobile games ever created can be yours for free.

Original post, February 3: Back in September we first heard that the hit iOS game Alto’s Adventure would soon make its way to Android, courtesy of Noodlecake Studios. As it turns out we’re only a little more than a week away, as the game is scheduled to launch in the Google Play Store on Thursday, February 11th. That’s great news for Android users who have been chomping at the bit to play this award winning game.

All in all, the content of the game will be the same on Android as it is on iOS, but with one big change. While Alto’s Adventure currently costs $2.99 on iOS, it will be free on Android. The game’s developers said a free-to-play model better suits the Android platform. “We think we’ve been able to find a balance that lets us treat players in a fair way,” says Snowman developer Ryan Cash, “where they can still get the same premium experience you get on iOS, but without needing to pay upfront.”

So why are Android users getting treated differently? Piracy.

“Piracy on Android is a much bigger issue on the platform,” says Noodlecake’s Ryan Holowaty, “especially in the case of premium iOS titles that charge more than $0.99.” To give you a brief example, Noodlecake ported the popular iOS title Wayward Souls to Android, and apparently only 11 percent of installed copies were paid for. Later, Noodlecake published a copy of their popular Shooting Stars title to Android that wouldn’t work if you pirated it. “The game only costs a few bucks on iOS, so it’s really not a huge deal,” Cash says. “iOS and Android are two very different ecosystems, so it’d be almost foolish to approach them the same way.”

We’ll be sure to update you when the game goes live in the Play Store.