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We’ve known for a while that Windows is working on bringing Android games over to Windows 11. While this involves the Amazon app store, it seems that Google wants to bring Android apps to the platform in its own way. According to The Verge, Google wants to bring Google Play games to Windows PCs.
Google Play Games on Windows is in beta testing right now
If you live in the states, and you’re excited to try this out, it’s going to be a bit of a wait. Right now, Google is only testing this out in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. In these places, players can sign up for the beta and join the waiting list.
The goal that Google is trying to achieve is seamless gameplay across mobile and PC platforms. Players will be able to download and play Android games right on their computers. Google also says that users won’t need to worry about losing their progress when they switch platforms.
If you’re wondering just how you’ll be able to install the games on your computer, Google is going to have its own standalone application. That program will handle the downloading and installing. We’re not sure if it’s going to be put on the Windows store or hosted on a website.
The games should play well on computers
Moving a mobile game from a phone to a computer brings up some questions. One is “How will I control the game?” Luckily, Google says that players will be able to play their games using the mouse and keyboard. This might not work for every game, but there are definitely games out there that can benefit from mouse and keyboard gameplay.
Right now, however, since this is a beta test, there’s a limited list of games that can be tested. The list includes Three Kingdoms Tactics, Summoners War, Mobile Legends, and State of Survival. We don’t know the entire list of games that are available at the moment, and the list is most likely growing.
Right now, we have no idea when this is going to come stateside or what version of Windows it’s going to support. The report specifies Windows PCs, but it didn’t say whether it’s going to be exclusively on Windows 11 or not. Since Windows 11 adoption is rather low at this point, it might make sense for Google to extend its reach to Windows 10.
With this news and the fact that Amazon apps are coming to Windows 11, it seems that the gap between mobile and PC platforms is starting to close. Only time will tell if this sticks.