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Google launches beta of Android games on Windows PCs

Google launches beta of Android games on Windows PCs

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The Google Play Games beta is only available in three countries today

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Google is launching a limited beta of its app to bring Android games to Windows PCs. Google Play Games will be available in beta in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan today, allowing Windows PC owners to play popular Android games like Mobile Legends, Summoners War, State of Survival, and Three Kingdoms Tactics.

Players in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan will be able to sign up to access the beta and access Google’s standalone app on Windows PCs. Google is promising “seamless gameplay sessions between a phone, tablet, Chromebook, and Windows PC,” suggesting that you’ll be able to easily resume games between multiple devices.

“Players can easily browse, download, and play their favorite mobile games on their PCs while taking advantage of larger screens with mouse and keyboard inputs,” says Arjun Dayal, group product manager for Google Play Games. “No more losing your progress or achievements when switching between devices; it just works with your Google Play Games profile!”

Google Play Games syncs gameplay sessions across multiple devices.
Google Play Games syncs gameplay sessions across multiple devices.
Image: Google

Google Play Games will also include Play Points that can be earned while playing Android games on PCs. Google only announced its plans to bring Android games to PCs a month ago, but it’s still not clear what technology the company is using to get Android games running on Windows PCs. The Google Play Games app will be a native Windows app that won’t involve game streaming, though, and Google is opening up a developer site today that should start to provide more information for game developers.

Google’s announcement comes months after Microsoft started testing Android apps on Windows 11 PCs. Microsoft has built an underlying Windows Subsystem for Android, which is capable of running Android apps from a variety of sources. Microsoft uses it in partnership with Amazon to allow native installs of games and apps from the Amazon Appstore on Windows, but despite workarounds, Google Play isn’t officially supported yet.