A few months ago, Google announced that it won't allow new iOS users to create Google Play Games accounts, citing "low usage" of the services on the platform. Now, as a part of the company's focused approach to Google Play Games Services (GPGS), it has announced that support for iOS has ended, and that features are being cut on Android too.
Google claims that even though GPGS allows developers to build feature-packed games, and enables them to analyze and optimize them accordingly, usage on iOS has been relatively low. As a result, moving forward, the latest release of Native SDK - which is version 2.3 - will not support integration with iOS. Similarly, the company won't be updating or supporting the iOS SDK anymore as well.
Additionally, Google has also said that it is removing features from GPGS on Android based on developer feedback, in order to make it "more useful". Support for Gifts, Requests, and Quests will be dropped, and the company says that developers have the next 12 months - until March 31, 2018 - to prepare for the removal of these features.
Meanwhile, Sign-in, Achievements, Leaderboards and Multiplayer will continue to be supported on Android for the foreseeable future.
Google claims that GPGS still remains an "important part" of the tools it provides to developers, and that it is working hard on future updates for the services.
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