Google Play is setting the stage for an enormous 12 months of development in cellular and cross-platform gaming, with a number of new initiatives to assist and encourage builders to construct much more thrilling and interesting gaming experiences.
The elevated energy of recent smartphones as gaming powerhouses has allowed for the creation of extra subtle cellular video games, lots of which may simply be known as “console-quality.” However, this has additionally given rise to extra demand from gamers to have the ability to get pleasure from these gaming experiences on a bigger display.
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The potential to run Android apps on Chromebooks, launched in 2016, partially addressed this, however limitations in Chrome OS and lower-end Chromebook {hardware} meant this didn’t all the time present one of the best gaming expertise.
Nevertheless, gameplay on Chromebooks has been on the rise over the previous 12 months, with Google reporting that Android utilization on Chrome OS grew by 50% in 2021 over the earlier 12 months — and that this was pushed primarily by video games.
So, it’s in all probability not an enormous shock that Google desires to take that have even additional. At The Game Awards 2021 in December, Google stunned us with a teaser video, revealing that Google Play Games can be coming to Windows PCs in 2022.
While that very temporary announcement didn’t provide us a lot element, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the primary Google Play Games for PC beta arrived. In January, Google opened sign-ups for players in Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to start testing the brand new service with a handful of video games.
The variety of titles obtainable should still be small, nevertheless it’s a formidable assortment to kick issues off, together with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Summoners War, State of Survival: The Joker Collaboration, and Three Kingdoms Tactics.
More importantly, this isn’t only a strategy to play your favourite Google Play video games on a Windows PC. Rather, it’s a part of Google’s new embrace and lengthen philosophy to “meet players where they are.”
Specifically, Google desires to make sure that players get a seamless, “pick-up-and-play” expertise as they transfer between platforms, whether or not that’s on a Google Pixel 6, Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, Chromebook, or Windows PC.
Building nice experiences
To kick off this week’s Google for Games Developer Summit, we had the chance to talk with Leo Olebe, Google’s Managing Director of Play Partnerships for Games, about his imaginative and prescient for the way forward for Google Play Games, and what Google is doing to empower builders to construct even higher gaming experiences.
Olebe got here to Google final May after serving for almost six years because the Senior Global Director of Games Partnerships for Facebook. He additionally sits on the board of Games for Change, a corporation that goals to empower sport creators and social innovators to make use of their video games to drive real-world change and assist make the world a greater place.
Needless to say, Olebe understands the cellular sport trade and the wants of each players and builders fairly effectively. He had some attention-grabbing issues to share about how Google is working to assist builders succeed on Google Play, and in flip, construct even higher gaming experiences for his or her gamers.
A stunning variety of builders started expressing curiosity nearly instantly following the teaser announcement at The Game Awards, and it’s “grown exponentially” since then.
Although Google Play Games for PC has been rolling out slowly with just a few video games, that shouldn’t be taken as an indication of poor uptake by builders. According to Olebe, a stunning variety of builders started expressing curiosity nearly instantly following the teaser announcement at The Game Awards, and it’s “grown exponentially” since then.
It’s not simply the large sport builders which might be on board, both. Olebe tells us that Google has many smaller indie devs who’re already engaged on optimizing their video games for PCs, and Google is actively working to supply them with the sources and instruments they should accomplish this transition.
While the quantity of effort required to adapt cellular video games for PC will seemingly range broadly between video games, Olebe shared that they’ve had some builders “onboard in as little as a week.” Others take a bit longer, however once more, the Google Play staff is “there to support developers every step of the way.”
As any long-time cellular gamer is aware of, transferring a sport between such totally different platforms can typically lead to a lower than best expertise. The early days of cellular gaming demonstrated what number of PC and console video games didn’t all the time translate effectively to a touchscreen interface, and immediately the other is usually true.
Fortunately, Google isn’t going to let builders get away with mediocre ports simply to ship extra PC-compatible titles. According to Olebe, “all games that are brought to the Google Play platform [should follow] a set of standards, policies, and best practices […] to get the most out of Google Play.” Minimum requirements embrace things like supporting keyboard and mouse controls, and the x86 structure. The aim right here is clearly high quality over amount, and Google is making these greatest practices as clear and simple as potential for builders.
Google
For bigger builders, Google presents the Google Play Partner Program for Games, tailor-made for the distinctive wants of builders at this scale. However, it additionally has quite a few different applications obtainable to even the smallest indie builders. As a part of this 12 months’s Games Developer Summit, Google can be asserting a brand new Android Game Development Extension that can enable sport builders to construct instantly for Android from inside Visual Studio, together with cross-compatibility with Android Studio.
Bigger video games, bigger screens
Olebe additionally tells us that there’s already been a marked shift by builders over the previous couple of years to prioritize bigger screens, and “users on Chromebooks are taking notice.” This has pushed elevated gaming on Chromebooks and opened up extra alternatives for Android sport builders to “reach more players where they are.”
What’s maybe extra attention-grabbing is that Google Play Games for PC additionally isn’t nearly supplementing the cellular gaming expertise. “PC-first” players can play Android video games on Windows with out the necessity to ever set up the sport on their cellular machine. “I imagine that there will be mobile games that people discover and try on PC that maybe they hadn’t tried before,” Olebe instructed us.
Google’s “ecosystem approach” has additionally been paying off in an identical approach.
The Google Play staff additionally sees quite a lot of success from partnering “deeply” with sport builders, Olebe notes, ensuring they’ve all of the instruments and help wanted within the Android Game Development Kit to construct video games and metrics like Android Vitals and the Developer Reporting API to maintain observe of how their video games are doing.
Google’s “ecosystem approach” has additionally been paying off in an identical approach. This consists of the brand new Android App Bundle format and the Play as You Download characteristic launched in Android 12 to permit gamers to obtain and begin enjoying a brand new sport in seconds, in addition to value-added options like Play Points and Play Pass.
Going ahead into 2022, Olebe suggests three priorities that Android sport builders ought to look to: Game high quality, multi-screen gaming, and superior instruments in Google Play like pre-registration, early entry, and Play factors. “The Android ecosystem is large, and developers get the most out of their games running well on more devices with all the tools and services we’ve made,” Olebe notes, including for builders that “Google Play has a wealth of tools that help you with promoting and increasing the commercial success for your game.”
“Gamers are always looking for more opportunities to find and play great games,” Olebe mentioned. “They will be happy if they can find new experiences, or continue existing ones. Google Play understands that many — nay most — are playing on multiple platforms. We want gamers to be able to find great Google Play experiences no matter what device or form factor they are on.”
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