US-based technology giant, Google is planning to bring its games beyond Android and ChromeOS devices to Windows PCs in 2022 through a desktop Play Games app.
“Players will be able to experience their favorite Google Play games on more devices: seamlessly switching between a phone, tablet, Chromebook, and soon, Windows PCs,” Mr. Greg Hartrell, Product Director, Games on Android and Google Play said.
The company has highlighted that it has built this app on its own, which means Google hasn’t partnered with Microsoft, BlueStacks, or others. The upcoming app will also allow players to resume games on a desktop PC, after playing them on a phone, tablet, or Chromebook.
“This Google-built product brings the best of Google Play Games to more laptops and desktops, and we are thrilled to expand our platform for players to enjoy their favorite Android games even more,” Mr. Hartrell added.
Google’s announcement comes months after Microsoft started testing Android apps on Windows 11 PCs. Microsoft has built an underlying Windows Subsystem for Android, which is capable of running Android apps from a variety of sources. The software giant has also partnered with Amazon to let Windows users natively install games and apps from the Amazon Appstore.
However, Google has not yet revealed when exactly the new functionality will be made public. Further, it’s not clear what technology Google is using to emulate Android apps on Windows, but games will run locally instead of streaming from the cloud.
Google’s plans for Android apps on Windows were first reported earlier this year. The report revealed that Google would first bring “emulated, native and streamed games” to Windows.
