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Google is now reported to be throwing open access to its Maps Platform for Android in a bid to encourage more game and app developers to take part. In particular, the search giant hopes that more game developers will come over to the platform.
Citing the growth of its Google Maps Platform, the company says that 10 games have been developed since the platform launched. That launch was back in 2018, so the figure likely seems laughable at face value. However, those games are played, the company continues, by more than 11 million users every month. That’s despite that its release of the platform was severely limited.
Now, the company is responding to indie studios’ and developers’ demand by opening the platform up for everybody. Google says the change-up comes as the result of infrastructure upscaling to allow wider adoption. And it’s offering a new SDK for Unity so that game developers can jump right in and get started.
What exactly is the Google Maps Platform and how does it help game developers?
For the uninitiated, Google Maps Platform is designed to let game and app developers take advantage of Google’s real-world mapping data. Put more succinctly, it allows the creation of games in the same vein as Pokemon GO. Niantic actually utilizes its own mapping data via Niantic Real World Platform but got its launch as a startup at Google. So the data available should, in theory, be similar.
Given the popularity of Pokemon GO, there have been unending attempts to cash-in on similar play mechanisms.
In short, those allow users to add AR overlays or objects in real-world locations. Or developers can utilize the mapping data to follow user movement and create places to visit in a gamified way. The latter was used in Niantic’s first endeavor, the original Ingress title.
But those aren’t the only ways that the data can be used to enable AR. And attempts to replicate Niantic’s success with Pokemon Go have largely fallen apart. But that hasn’t necessarily been the case for those built on Google’s Maps Platform.
Jurassic World Alive serves as one example, built to play similarly to Pokemon GO but with dinosaurs from the namesake cinematic series. Google also provides an example of birdwatching AR games.
Google is now offering up a chance for even more developers to get creative. And to change the way mobile users play games.
Devs aren’t just getting an SDK and maps either
Google also set aside some room to explain what else Google Maps Platform brings to the table. To begin with, the Playable Locations API will help developers find the best real-world locations to center gameplay around. But since its initial launch as a gaming development tool, the platform’s gained a few extra features on top of that.
The search giant introduced Mixed zoom in its game-building tool, for example. That allows details to be rendered more extensively — or not — based on the distance the player is from the graphics. That lets developers generate maps that Google says can span “thousands of meters or more” without all the extra processing power required.
Pathfinding, meanwhile, was introduced to give life to in-game characters, including players. So characters can chase players around or “drop off supplies at a safe house,” or a player can collaborate on missions, connecting game worlds and gameplay more readily to the real world and real-world players.