

The software giant has partnered with Amazon to let Windows users natively install games and apps from the Amazon Appstore, but native Google Play support won’t be available officially through Microsoft’s feature.

Microsoft has built an underlying Windows Subsystem for Android, which is capable of running Android apps from a variety of sources. Google’s announcement comes months after Microsoft started testing Android apps on Windows 11 PCs. Microsoft is also bringing Android apps to Windows 11. “It will not involve game streaming.” Google’s app won’t rely on any special integration with Windows 11, and the company will also distribute the app itself. “This will be a native Windows app distributed by Google, which will support Windows 10 and up,” explains Hartrell. It’s not yet clear what technology Google is using to emulate Android apps on Windows, but games will run locally instead of streaming from the cloud. The upcoming app will also allow players to resume games on a desktop PC, after playing them on a phone, tablet, or Chromebook.įor now, Google is simply teasing the app during The Game Awards tonight, with a promised release window of sometime next year. Google spokesperson Alex Garcia-Kummert tells The Verge that the company has built this app on its own, which means Google hasn’t partnered with Microsoft, BlueStacks, or others here. “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.” “Starting in 2022, 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,” says Greg Hartrell, Google’s product director of games on Android and Google Play, in a statement to The Verge. A Google Play Games app will be available in 2022, built by Google to allow games from Google Play to run on Windows laptops, tablets, and PCs. Google is planning to bring Android games to Windows PCs next year.
