google play games

google-is-bringing-every-android-game-to-windows-in-big-gaming-update

Google is bringing every Android game to Windows in big gaming update

Games, Google, google play games, Tech / /

The annual Game Developers Conference is about to kick off, and even though Stadia is dead and buried, Google has a lot of plans for games. It’s expanding tools that help PC developers bring premium games to Android, and games are heading in the other direction, too. The PC-based Play Games platform is expanding to bring every single Android game to Windows. Google doesn’t have a firm timeline for all these changes, but 2025 will be an interesting year for the company’s gaming efforts.

Google released the first beta of Google Play Games on PC back in 2022, allowing you to play Android games on a PC. It has chugged along quietly ever since, mostly because of the anemic and largely uninteresting game catalog. While there are hundreds of thousands of Android games, only a handful were made available in the PC client. That’s changing in a big way now that Google is bringing over every Android game from Google Play.

Starting today, you’ll see thousands of new games in Google Play Games on PC. Developers actually have to opt out if they don’t want their games available on Windows machines via Google Play Games. Google says this is possible thanks to improved custom controls, making it easy to map keyboard and gamepad controls onto games that were designed for touchscreens (see below). The usability of these mapped controls will probably vary dramatically from game to game.

While almost every Android game will soon be available on Windows, not all will get top billing. Google Play Games on PC has a playability badge, indicating a game has been tested on Windows. Games that have been specifically optimized for PC get a more prominent badge. Games with the “Playable” or “Optimized” distinction will appear throughout the client in lists of suggested titles, but untested games will only appear if you search for them. However, you can install them all just the same, and they’ll work better on AMD-based machines, support for which has been lacking throughout the beta.

Google is bringing every Android game to Windows in big gaming update Read More »

google’s-play-store-wants-to-pivot-from-grab-and-go-to-an-active-destination

Google’s Play Store wants to pivot from grab-and-go to an active destination

advertising, AI, AI summaries, app stores, Google, google play games, Google Play Store, play store, Tech / /

It’s still a store, just with a different product —

If multi-app shopping doesn’t keep you there, maybe free Pixel gear will.

–

Enlarge / I like the idea of clicking “Realistic,” “MMORPG,” and “Word” boxes, just to see what comes back.

Google

Google Play is a lot of things—perhaps too many things for those who just want to install some apps. If that’s how you feel, you might find “Google Play’s next chapter” a bit bewildering, as Google hopes to make it “more than a store.” Or you might start thinking about how to turn Play Points into a future Pixel phone.

Google Play’s “new way to Play.”

In a blog post about “How we’re evolving Google Play,” VP and General Manager of Google Play Sam Bright outlines the big changes to Google Play:

  • AI-generated app reviews and summaries, along with app comparisons
  • “Curated spaces” for interests, showing content from apps related to one thing (like cricket, and Japanese comics)
  • Game recommendations based on genres and features you select.
  • Google Play Games on PC can pick up where you left off in games played on mobile and can soon play multiple titles at the same time on desktop.
  • Play Points enthusiasts who are in the Diamond, Platinum, or Gold levels can win Pixel devices, Razer gaming products, and other gear, along with other game and access perks.

Those are the upgrades to existing Play features. The big new thing is Collections, which, like the “curated spaces,” takes content from apps you already have installed and organizes them around broad categories. I spotted “Watch,” “Listen,” “Read,” “Games,” “Social,” “Shop,” and “Food” in Google’s animated example. You can toggle individual apps feeding into the Collections in the settings.

It’s hard not to look at Google Play’s new focus on having users actively express their interests in certain topics and do their shopping inside a fully Google-ized space, against the timing of yesterday’s announcement regarding third-party cookies. Maybe that connection isn’t apparent right off, but bear with me.

The Play Store is still contractually installed on the vast majority of Android devices, but competition and changes could be coming following Google’s loss to Epic in an antitrust trial and proposed remedies Google deeply dislikes. Meanwhile, the Play Store and Google’s alleged non-compliance with new regulations, like allowing developers to notify customers about payment options outside the store, are under investigation.

If the tide turns against tracking users across apps, websites, and stores, and if the Play Store becomes non-required for browsing and purchasing apps, it’s in Google’s interests to get people actively committing to things they want to see more about on their phone screens. It’s a version of what Chrome is doing with its Privacy Sandbox and its “Topics” that it can flag for advertisers. Google’s video for the new Play experience suggests “turning a sea of apps into a world of discovery.” The prompt “What are you interested in?” works for the parties on both ends of Google’s Play space.

Google’s Play Store wants to pivot from grab-and-go to an active destination Read More »