What you need to know
- Google Play Games will finally be available on Windows starting next year.
- Google says the upcoming product will bring the "best of Google Play games" to laptops and desktops.
- It isn't clear if the standalone Play Games app will be available for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs.
Google will soon let you play Android games from the Play Games platform on your Windows PC. The company announced its new Play Games PC app at The Game Awards 2021. Google says the standalone app will be launched in 2022.
Interestingly, Google isn't partnering with Microsoft to bring Play Games to Windows PCs. Instead, Google has built the product on its own based on "incredible feedback from developers and players."
Once Google Play Games expands to Windows, you'll be able to seamlessly switch between your phone, tablet, and PC. However, it doesn't look like all games available on the Play Games platform will be coming to Windows PCs. Google has told Android Central that the upcoming product will bring "the best of the Android and Google Play games ecosystem to Windows PCs," which suggests only a limited number of titles will be available at launch.
To get started, you'll need to download the Google Play Games app and install it on your PC. Once the app is installed, you will be able to search and install the best Android games similar to how you install games from the Play Store on your phone.
Currently, the only way to play Android games on Windows 10 PCs is to install an emulator such as Bluestacks. If you are running Windows 11 and have signed up for the Windows Insider Program, you can download a few Android games from the Amazon App store. Microsoft is expected to roll out the ability to install Android apps on Windows 11 to everyone sometime in the first half of 2022.
