By Juan Lomanto
Just over a month and a half ago, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)'s Google confirmed the closure of Stadia for January 2023. The cloud video game service launched in November 2019 became one of the most popularly anticipated failures in its history, and the feeling that reigned was that of retreat.
However, in line with what was said earlier this year, the Mountain View company expanded the Google Play Games beta on PC to eight new countries. Among them, are the United States, Mexico and Canada.
"We’re thrilled to expand our platform to more markets for players to enjoy their favorite games on Google Play. As we move towards a full release, we will continue to add new features and evaluate developer and player feedback," said Arjun Dayal, director of Google Play Games, on the Android Developers blog.
And it is good that the manager clarified this, since the store, historically for mobile platforms, came to PC in a beta version. The company is now expanding its initial premiere in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Australia.
How Does It Work
Now, how do I play my Google Play video games on a PC?
The first thing you have to do as a user: go the official website of the platform. If you are based in one of the markets where the platform is available and have Miscrosoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 10 or Windows 11, you can install the app on your PC and, just like you do on a mobile phone, after logging in, you'll be able to see the video games available for download.
But the most interesting thing of all is that, as happens with other services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming, if you were already playing a title from the available catalog, you can synchronize your progress and the library itself.
“Our broader goal remains to meet gamers where they are and give them access to their games on as many devices as possible,” said Arjun Dayal, following the same logic as Microsoft.
Requirements
In addition to being in one of the available markets or having Windows 10 or 11, Google Play Games beta asks your PC for some minimum technical requirements, such as having a Solid-state hard drive (SSD), a gaming-grade graphics card, an 8-core processor, 8 GB RAM, about 20 GB of available storage space, a Windows administrator account, and some compatible details on the PC.
See also: Could The Future Of Mobile Games Be Microsoft, Netflix, PlayStation? What Are They Up To?
So, as you will notice, the initiative does not seem to be as simple as "download the software and play".
Something that, without a doubt, we should have anticipated when, at the beginning of the year, the company said, “This product created by Google brings the best of Google Play Games to more laptops and desktops, and we are delighted to expand our platforms so that our players enjoy your favorite Android games even more.”
It is clear that the priority is for PC users to have the most technically great video games on Android at first, and then continue to expand borders. In addition, it is very important that the available titles adapt well to the keyboard and mouse.
Next level unlocked! Google Play Games beta is now available for download for all players in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand Start exploring and playing mobile games on PC https://t.co/7V7pTh1DFr pic.twitter.com/g0J3aev3zR
— Google Play (@GooglePlay) August 24, 2022
Games and Markets Available
Google Play Games beta is currently available in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. The number of video games varies by market.
It is confirmed that there are less than 100 titles since, as mentioned before, the priority is that they adapt well to PC controls.
Some of the video games available are "Horizon Chase," "Blade Idle," "Cookie Run," "Rise of Empires: Ice and Fire" and "WWE SuperCard," among others.
Let's remember that the arrival of Google's mobile video game store on PC makes its debut after Windows 11 introduced the possibility of using Android apps downloaded from the Amazon Appstore.
So it seems that the technological conditions would be in place for it to be an interesting alternative for players who want to continue their mobile games in the comfort of their desktop computer.
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Image by El Planteo
