Google has announced a host of new Google Play Games features at its annual I/O developers’ conference, including Game Profiles, Saved Games and controller support.
Although a huge focus of its I/O keynote was on the new Android L operating system, Google has taken time to explain the additions coming to Google Play Games in the near future.
These changes are to prepare its gaming platform for the arrival of Android L as well as Android TV later this year.
“With Google I/O 14 here, we see Android and Google Play as a huge opportunity for game developers: 3 in 4 Android users are playing games and with over one billion active Android users around the world, games are reaching and delighting almost everyone,” said Greg Hartwell, Product Manager of Google Play Games. “At Google, we see a great feature where mobile and cloud services bring games to all the screens in your life and connect you with others.”
The Play Games app now offers you a Game Profile where you can earn gamer points and vanity titles by unlocking in-game achievements, which then can be compared with your friends.
A huge new feature is Saved Games, a new service that stores your progress across all your devices, offering a time played, description and cover image for each title easily visible.
“Players never have to play level 1 again by having their progress stored with Google, and cover images and descriptions are used in Play Games experiences to indicate where they left off and attract them to launch their favourite game again.”
You’ll also see Quests starting to appear in Google Play games, which are online, time-based goals that give you unique rewards.
Google has also added gamepad standards for developers to introduce controller support to Google Play games, which will no doubt be very useful for the forthcoming Android TV. The standard will make gamepads compatible with Android TV, tablets and smartphones, Chrome and Chromebooks too.
“Our Play Games changes will roll out over the next few weeks with the update of Google Play Services and the Play Games App,a nd Android L-release changes are part of the announced developer preview.”
“This gets us a big step closer to a world where Android and our cloud services enable games to reach all the screens in your life and connect you with others.”
To see all the Google Play Games changes for developers, head to the Android Developers’ blog spot.
Read more: Android 5.0 L features – What’s new?
