Google has confirmed that it is going to move Android games to Windows soon. She has officially announced the desktop version of the Google Play Games app. The project is scheduled for release in 2022.
The company announced this during The Game Awards ceremony. Also, Greg Hartrell, head of gaming at Google, shared details in an interview with The Verge.
According to Hartrell, the appearance of Google Play Games on PC is an initiative of Google itself. She did not enter into a partnership with Microsoft, BlueStacks or other companies to develop the application. Google also intends to publish the application independently.
Google Play Games will be available on computers running Windows 10 and newer. It is unclear exactly how the service will work, but, as Hartrell assures, the games will not be “cloud-based”. At the same time, it will support cross-progression — users will be able to start playing on a PC and finish on a smartphone or vice versa.
Whether PC gamers will be able to play all Google Play Games titles at the start, or the library will be limited at first, is not specified.
Google’s plans to make games from its store available on PC became known in August 2021. This information was revealed from court documents in the case of Apple and Epic Games. However, Google has not publicly talked about such intentions so far.
Google is not the only company that has decided to adapt its store for PC. In July, Microsoft and Amazon announced that starting with Windows 11, the Amazon Appstore will be built into the Microsoft Store, allowing you to run Android applications on computers.