Jest, a marketplace for messaging games, is challenging the app store status quo

For years now, when we think of mobile gaming, we think of app stores. Developers invest countless hours, months, or even years creating games just to surrender a significant portion—up to 30%—of their earnings to major players like Apple and Google. However, a newcomer has entered the scene, aiming to revolutionize this model.

Meet Jest, a marketplace for messaging games that recently emerged from stealth with $7 million in seed funding. Jest believes that the future of gaming won’t come from an app store, but rather from right within your messaging app. 

Jest’s launch coincides with the rise of Rich Communication Services (RCS), an enhanced version of SMS that enables more engaging experiences through rich media, interactive features, and embedded payments. With RCS making significant advancements, the landscape is shifting dramatically. In 2024, Apple joined the RCS movement with iOS 18, and by May 2025, RCS was supporting over a billion messages daily in the U.S., according to Google.

“Mobile game developers have largely been locked into app store distribution as the primary way to reach players,” Deyan Vitanov, CEO and co-founder, said in an interview with TechCrunch. “RCS games live in the messaging inbox, the stickiest surface on mobile, where people are already spending huge amounts of time talking to friends and family. We’re building on an interaction pattern people already use every day.”

Image Credits:Jest

Jest offers users the ability to send games directly in their chat threads, without having to visit an app store. (Games launch in the web browser and require Wi-Fi to play.) This convenience is particularly impactful as consumers are downloading fewer games. In 2025, mobile games were downloaded 39.4 billion times, reflecting an 8.6% year-over-year decline following a 6.6% drop from 2023 to 2024, according to Appfigures’ annual report.

Jest’s strategy is proving effective. By the end of January, just four months into its beta phase, the platform had already achieved two significant milestones: more than 1,000,000 messaging games played and over 300,000 messages exchanged. 

“We’re seeing 3-4 times better retention than traditional mobile apps. That’s a fundamental shift in the engagement curve. On the user acquisition front, we’ve completely validated that people will sign up and play games through messaging, with our early partners reporting 30-60% lower acquisition costs compared to mobile apps. It’s remarkably simple. Just tap on a link, and you’re in,” Vitanov shared with us.

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Image Credits:Jest

Additionally, Jest is not just about facilitating games within messaging; it has built a marketplace specifically designed for these experiences. What’s most appealing for developers is the revenue model: an impressive 90/10 split, with 90% of earnings going directly to them. This stands in stark contrast to the typical 30% commission taken by traditional app stores, offering a promising new avenue for gaming studios.

“There’s also a clever network effect built in. If one studio acquires a user but another studio monetizes them, we split the economics: 70% to the monetizing studio, 20% to the acquiring studio, and 10% to Jest. This creates powerful incentives where even viral games that don’t monetize well can generate revenue streams for their developers when those users play other games on the platform,” Vitanov added. 

Notably, Jest has already attracted interest from several development partners, including teams behind popular titles such as “Episode,” “Puppy Mansion,” and “Kingdom Maker.”

The seed funding, led by Innovation Endeavors, will go toward scaling the platform and onboarding the first group of gaming studios. 

To further accelerate growth, Jest has also launched a dedicated Games Fund to support studios at every stage of franchise development on the platform.  This fund will deploy capital across three tiers: $1 million for flagship titles, $200,000 for promising mid-stage titles, and $40,000 for exploratory projects and experimental concepts.

Currently, Jest is live in the U.S. and is set to expand to 14 additional countries by the third quarter of 2026.