Google has dropped several new announcements for its multiplatform gaming service, Google Play Games, ahead of this year's Game Developer Conference (GDC). One of the highlights is more Android games are coming to the service for PC users.
Aurash Mahbod, the GM and VP of Games on Google Play, said in a blog post that Google will bring all mobile games to PC users by default through Google Play Games. However, developers will have an option to opt out if they want.
The service is bringing various "playability badges" for games that will affect their visibility on the platform. For instance, "optimized" means a game meets all of Google's quality standards for a great gaming experience.
Meanwhile, games with a "playable" badge meet the minimum requirements, and the ones with an "untested" badge aren't reviewed but might work. Such games will only appear when a user searches for them in the search menu.
The search giant is expanding the service by expanding the full Google Play Games on PC catalog to more devices, including AMD laptops and desktops. It is bringing several PC-optimized gaming titles, including Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, Sonic Rumble, and ODIN: VALHALLA RISING this year.
The ability to port mobile games to Google Play Games will also bring Train Sim and Pet Shop Fever: Animal Hotel to the users. On the flip side, PC-based games like DREDGE and TABS Mobile are coming to Google Play for mobile users, and the mystery detective title Disco Elysium will be pushed later this year.
The company has also baked some new features for the service. A new game sidebar rolling out this month allows players to make quick in-game adjustments and enable multi-account and multi-instancing support.
New custom controls allow players to remap keys and set up an on-screen joystick control to use their keyboard. Google is also easing the process of managing and using Google Play points on mobile and PC, with up to 10x points boosters.
Google Play Games on PC was announced at The Game Awards in 2021 and launched in beta for Windows PCs a month later. The company said it will exit beta and become generally available later this year.
As the platform matures, Google is focused on improving support for native PC games by launching a new SDK to build native PC games, simplifying the process of packaging PC versions, configuring releases, and managing store listings, it said.
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