Expanding our stage for PC and paid titles

News and insights on the Android platform, developer tools, and events.

Google Play is proud to be the home of over 200,000 games—many of which defined the mobile-first era. But as cross-platform becomes the standard for players, we are evolving our ecosystem to match the scale of your ambitions. In recent years, we focused on elevating Android gaming quality while significantly deepening our support for native PC titles. We know that maximizing your game’s reach across different platforms is complex.

The Level Up program serves as your strategic roadmap, helping you prioritize optimizations that drive great experiences on Android. Building on this foundation, we’re doubling down on our investment to make Play the most accessible home for every category of play. We’re adding new tools for paid games and making the PC game discovery to purchase seamless. Keep reading to learn more about how we’re creating a bigger stage for your games.

Building a bigger stage starts with making your games easier to find—and easier to buy—no matter which device your players prefer. We’re expanding your reach by bringing cross-platform discovery directly to the mobile storefront.  With the new PC section in the Games tab, your PC titles gain high visibility placement among our most active mobile players.  With ‘buy once play anywhere’ pricing, we’re making it easier to sell your games across different devices.  If you choose to opt-in your mobile game for Google Play Games on PC, you can now offer a single price that covers both mobile and PC versions.

We’re rolling out this feature in EAP with select games including Brotato: Premium.  For PC-only games, players can now complete the full purchase journey on Google Play Games on PC with the same trusted security and privacy standards they expect from Google Play.  To help you convert high-intent buyers with less friction, we’re introducing Game Trials, a feature that enables players to experience your game for a limited time before making a purchase on mobile.

Accessible directly from your game’s store listing, Game Trials provides a fast-track for players to start exploring your world with a single tap. Game trials are now in testing with select titles and we’ll roll it out to more titles soon.  To ensure this is low maintenance for you, Game Trials is added directly into your Android App Bundle. This enables you to offer a high quality trial without the burden of a separate codebase or a demo version of your app.  Play ensures trials are secure and seamless.

Game Trials are once per user and protects your game while the trial is active. When it ends, players can purchase your game and keep their progress.  We’re also working on tools that will give you more control—such as specifying a custom time limit or an in-game event to conclude the trial.  Play Pass is another way to diversify revenue and grow your player audience. It has been a strong launchpad for indie hits such as Isle of Arrows, Slay the Spire, and Dead Cells.

With Play Pass, you can reach highly dedicated players seeking a more curated gaming experience, free of ads and in-app purchases. To help you deepen engagement, paid titles on Play Pass can now opt in to Google Play Games on PC — making it easy for players to find and play your games on a larger screen. Later this year, you can nominate your game through a streamlined opt-in process directly in Play Console.    Wishlists and Discounts are one of the most effective ways to capture player intent and drive long term sales.

To support players at every stage of their purchase journey, we’re integrating them directly into Play. Players can save titles to their wishlist and manage them from library settings. To keep your game top-of-mind, players will receive automated notifications for your latest discounts — starting with mobile and expanding soon to PC games.  We’re thrilled to welcome Sledding Game, 9 Kings, Potion Craft, Moonlight Peaks, and Low Budget Repairs to Play [1].

It marks an exciting expansion of our catalog and a step forward in our mission to build a bigger gaming ecosystem for all developers. This growth is fueled by our developer community, whose feedback continues to shape our roadmap and help us better support your success. That mission brings us to GDC and the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards [2], where the next generation of games awaits! This year, we’re inviting you to come along for the ride as we go backstage to chat with the finalists and winners, sharing the moments of triumph and the creative stories behind their development.

Not joining us at GDC? You can take the next step in your journey to launch your game on Google Play today. 1. Sledding Game, 9 Kings, Potion Craft, and Moonlight Peaks are coming to Google Play in 2026. Low Budget Repairs is scheduled for release in 2027. [Back] 2. Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards is hosted by Game Developers Conference (GDC) and requires a valid GDC pass for entry. [Back]

Summary

This report covers the latest developments in android. The information presented highlights key changes and updates that are relevant to those following this topic.

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