Google Play Games might be headed to the graveyard
- Google Play Games for Android may be discontinued, as indicated by recent lack of updates to the app’s features.
- The Google Play Store app has been quietly updated with new features, including Gamer Profiles and the ability to “follow” other users.
- The Play Store can already track gamers’ achievements, suggesting that the Google Play Games app is no longer necessary for this functionality.
- Google has a history of moving features between apps as they age, such as when Google Pay was replaced by Google Wallet.
- The Google Play Games app on Android may be replaced by other services or features in the future, although the company’s PC-based service remains active and receiving updates.
Google is quietly building key features of its Play Games app, which lets you track achievements on Android games, directly into the Play Store, Android Police reports — signaling plans that the former may be headed for the infamous Google Graveyard.
Coder and self-proclaimed APK teardown specialist AssembleDebug posted on X that Google hasn’t made any significant updates regarding user interface and features in the Google Play Games apps in months. However, AssembleDebug has seen updates under the hood of the Google Play Store app that include upcoming Gamer Profiles and the ability to “follow” other users. AssembleDebug says the Play Store can already track gamers’ achievements.
Google Play Games for Android launched in 2013 to compete with Apple’s Game Center — at a time when smartphone gaming was hitting its stride and, for the first time, really challenging portable video game systems for people’s attention. Google has often moved features between apps as they aged, like when Google Pay bowed out in favor of Google Wallet.
The Google Play Games app isn’t the same as the company’s Google Play Games for PC service, which lets you play select Android games on Windows computers (and has been in beta for more than three years). Last month, Google said it’s bringing more games to the PC app. The Google Play Games app on Android, though, looks slated for redundancy before it finally sees itself out.