Google is announcing several big Android gaming updates at this year’s Game Developers Conference. A majority of them will be user facing, like app streaming and more social features in Play Games, while others will help developers market and add new features to their games.
Last month, Google announced that new Play Games users would get a player ID instead of having to make a Google+ account. Player IDs are now being rebranded as Gamer ID and will act as an in-game identity. As they are unique, Google recommends heading to the Play Games app now to claim yours.
Over the weekend, Google announced changes to Play Games permissions that are mostly meant for developers, but regular users who game on Android will also see a benefit. Players no longer need their Google accounts upgraded to Google+ to use Play Games and can now automatically be signed-in with a standard Google account.
Continuing the onslaught of Material Design updates over the past few weeks, Google this evening has started rolling out an update to the Google Play Games Android app. As you can guess, the update is packed full of user interface tweaks, making it fit in with Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The update introduces a new icon, as well as themes we’ve seen throughout other Google Material Design updates. There are new colors, new animations, and new fonts. Google describes the update as being “bigger and bolder” than before.
The update is rolling out now via the Play Store, but it is a staged rollout, so it may take a little while to hit your device.
Google announced today that some notable new updates are available now in its Google Play Games SDK allowing developers to make even better cross-platform gaming experiences across Android and iOS. Some of the features were announced during its Google I/O developer conference late last month, including an update to the Play Games C++ SDK that brings turn-based multiplayer, quests and events, and saved games support:
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Google announced some new additions to Google Play services for developers today with the biggest being that the Appurify team, an app testing platform, is joining Google. That means that the freemium service will soon be available to developers through Google Play services. Google also announced some other new services for developers and users today including new features for gaming and direct carrier billing for more devices.
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Originally released back in July, Google has just updated its Google Play Games app from version 1.1 to 1.5. The update adds some useful enhancements to help it compete with the likes of Apple’s Game Center.
First off, Play Games now supports the ability to send and view invitations to join multiplayer games. Previous versions of the app only allows you to join games from within the app and did not support invitations. Further improving the social and game discovery aspects of the app, the update has also added the ability to see what games people in your circles are playing.
A few slight interface tweaks have also been made. the settings have moved from the Action Bar to the side bar. The side bar also contains a new menu called “Matches” that allows you to manage your invitations. New “Recommended Games” and “Find Games” tabs have also been added.
The update is gradually rolling out to devices now, but if you can’t wait, head over to Android Police, where they have the download now.
