Come 2022, Google will let users download and play Android games directly on their Windows devices, including tablets, PCs, and laptops. This surprise announcement was made at The Game Awards 2021 by Google Play Games Product Director Greg Hartnell.
This move will excite players who can now seamlessly enjoy their favourite Android games on their PCs and bring both platforms closer.
According to the announcement, the Google Play Games will be available on Windows as a standalone application; this decision will add thousands of games to the list that users can enjoy on their Windows devices.
Interestingly, Microsoft has only collaborated with Amazon to officially make its App store available on Windows 11, which, unfortunately, has far fewer games than Google Play Games.
Not the Microsoft x Amazon route
For those interested, Google has clarified that this development isn’t related to Amazon Appstore being integrated into Windows 11. Instead, the company said that it has been working on this project privately for some time, and its solution doesn’t rely on the technology that Microsoft offers to Amazon to help run the apps on Windows 11.
While Google hasn’t shared an exact timeline for this, nor has it shared the details around the technology being used to emulate Android apps on PCs, however, what can be understood is that a user who’s playing a game on their Android phone, Tablet or Chromebook can resume the game on the PC instantly.
Hartrell also said that “This will be a native Windows app distributed by Google, which will support Windows 10 and up. It will not involve game streaming.”
Before this, if a user had to access an Android app on their PC, they were forced to use an emulator like Bluestacks. Which meant that users had to download and sign in on a third-party application.
Also, with these companies coming together, it will offer users a seamless experience and challenge the concept of a closely guarded ecosystem that Apple strongly believes in.
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