Google expands it PC gaming platform to support ALL Android games and more PC games

Folks have been finding ways to run Android games on Windows PCs for almost as long as Android’s been around. But in 2022 Google launched its own official platform called Google Play Games for Windows.

At launch it only supported a handful of Android games. But over time Google added support for thousands of additional titles, and last year Google began adding support for native PC games, allowing you to use one platform to launch mobile and PC titles. Now Google has announced the biggest update yet: the company is “making all mobile games available on PC by default,” although developers do still have the option to opt out which means that some games that are available on Android devices could still be missing from the Windows app.

Of course, most Android games were designed for touchscreen devices like phones and tablets rather the keyboard and mouse (or touchpad) devices like laptops and desktops. So Google will display “playability badges” to let users know if a game is “optimized” and meets all of Google’s standards for offering a good experience on PCs or “playable,” which means they at least meet the minimum requirements.

Many games may also be labeled “untested,” and they’ll only show up in the Google Play Games app for Windows when users search for them specifically.

Google says it’s also rolling out new features include support for custom controls, a game sidebar for adjusting settings on the fly, and multi-account and multi-instance gaming. The company is also partnering with PC makers to preload Google Play Games on select PCs starting later this year (yay bloatware).

That’s an interesting move considering that more than three years after launch, Google Play Games for Windows is still described as beta.

Play Games for PC is also working to bring support for more native PC games with a new SDK and the ability to use the Google Play Console to manage distribution of both PC and mobile titles.

via Ars Technica and Android Developers Blog