Google Play is helping developers meet gamers where they are

digitaltrends.com:

Google Play is setting the stage for a big year of growth in mobile and cross-platform gaming, with several new initiatives to help and encourage developers to build even more exciting and engaging gaming experiences.

The increased power of modern smartphones as gaming powerhouses has allowed for the creation of more sophisticated mobile games, many of which can easily be called “console-quality.” However, this has also given rise to more demand from players to be able to enjoy these gaming experiences on a larger screen.

The ability to run Android apps on Chromebooks, introduced in 2016, partially addressed this, but limitations in Chrome OS and lower-end Chromebook hardware meant this didn’t always provide the best gaming experience.

Nevertheless, gameplay on Chromebooks has been on the rise over the past year, with Google reporting that Android usage on Chrome OS grew by 50% in 2021 over the previous year — and that this was driven primarily by games.

So, it’s probably not a big surprise that Google wants to take that experience even further. At The Game Awards 2021 in December, Google surprised us with a teaser video, revealing that Google Play Games would be coming to Windows PCs in 2022.

While that very brief announcement didn’t offer us much detail, it wasn’t long before the first Google Play Games for PC beta arrived. In January, Google opened sign-ups for gamers in Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to begin testing the new service with a handful of games.

The number of titles available may still be small, but it’s an impressive collection to kick things off, including Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Summoners War, State of Survival: The Joker Collaboration, and Three Kingdoms Tactics.

More importantly, this isn’t just a