The Delta game emulator, leveraging Apple's relaxed App Store regulations, has clinched the top downloading spot in 35 countries today, as per data from Appfigures relayed to PocketGamer.biz.

Apple recently updated its App Review guidelines to permit retro console emulators to offer game downloads. The company emphasized that firms providing such apps are accountable for all their software content and must adhere to relevant laws and privacy guidelines, among other regulations.

Quick to launch on April 17th as the premier high-profile emulator, Delta, the successor to GBA4iOS, supports various game systems including Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and the Nintendo DS.

Delta boasts console controller support, save and load states for any game, cheat codes, and multiplayer functionality for NES, SNES, and N64.

In a significant feat, Delta secured the top position in the App Store's most downloaded apps on April 18th in 13 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Singapore, and Taiwan. It also made it to the top 10 in 35 countries, encompassing Japan and South Korea.

As of April 19th, Delta continues its ascent, leading the App Store download rankings in 35 countries, such as the UK, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Additionally, it has broken into the top 10 in 66 countries today.

Beyond the App Store, Delta is accessible on the newly introduced AltStore PAL, an Apple-approved alternative app marketplace in the EU. Users can download it onto iOS devices from the web. AltStore PAL debuted alongside Delta and clipboard manager Clip.

Riley Testut, co-founder and developer at AltStore, expressed his excitement, stating, "This has been a personal dream of mine ever since I started building emulators for iOS over a decade ago, and is what my co-founder Shane Gill and I have been working towards since launching AltStore almost five years ago."

AltStore PAL, in compliance with Apple's new EU policies allowing alternative payments and distribution, incurs the Core Technology Fee, a €0.50 charge per download annually. To offset the cost, AltStore PAL users are charged €1.50 per year to cover the fee and other payment processing charges.

While Delta is currently free to download on the App Store, the developer has proactively taken steps to manage the Core Technology Fee through AltStore PAL's subscription model.

Source: adapted from an article by Craig Chapple, Head of Content for PocketGamer.biz.