Google announced today that it is expanding Google Play Games on PC to support native PC games in addition to mobile games.
“Google Play Games on PC was launched to help mobile games reach more players on PC,” Google Play vice president and general manager Aurash Mahbod says. “Today, we’re expanding this support to native PC games, enabling more developers to connect with our massive player base on mobile.”
To date, Google Play Games on PC has offered mobile game publishers a way to bring their titles to Windows PCs and optimize them for use with keyboard and mouse via a high-performance emulator. But with this expansion, the service will now help developers bring native PC games to Google Play with a Play Games PC SDK that offers in-app purchase integration and advanced security protections, simplified PC game packaging, and up to a 15 percent additional earnback bonus. Developers interested in bringing native PC games to Google Play can reach out to Google directly.
Google also announced improvements to Play Games on PC for mobile game developers, key among them that it will now make all mobile games available on PC by default. Developers can opt out anytime, and there are no playability badges that indicate game compatibility on PC. A “playable” badge indicates that a game meets the minimum requirements to work well on PC, while an “optimized” badge indicates that a game meets all of Google’s “quality standards for a great gaming experience”.
Google also made major updates to the Play Games on PC platform, including support for AMD desktop PCs and laptops. And for gamers on PC, it added controls customization, a game sidebar for making quick adjustments, and a more seamless Play Points experience on PC that makes it easier to track points and earn points boosters.