Google bids to build global gaming hub
SAN FRANCISCO — Google wants to turn its mobile Android operating system into a major gaming centre, announcing new features Monday it says will push developers to innovate and make more money, while also helping consumers find more games they’ll enjoy.
During its annual keynote at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, the tech giant spoke to a crowd of developers and made the case for why they should consider Google Play Games — Android’s gaming portal — a land of opportunity.
“Part of our internal narrative that drives our strategy and how we engaged with partners externally is about high fidelity games and making games better on Android,” Jamil Moledina, Google’s San Francisco-based games strategic lead for Google Play, said in an interview. “In the past, we’ve been very good at introducing new features, but what we are trying to do is listen better and understand what it is game developers want to see out of the platform and over deliver in those areas.”
Google said nearly 300 million new users started using Android devices last year in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and Indonesia, while more than 100 million new users globally can now add in direct methods of payment like carrier billing, gift cards and credit cards.
Taking into consideration these new figures with recent Statista data showing Android has more than 86 per cent of the global smartphone market, Google suggests its platform is ready to become a global gaming hub.
“Studios that were — and still are — largely in consoles and PC are starting to gain real traction in mobile,” Moledina said. “And even those mobile-first companies are taking advantage of the connectivity and hardware that’s available today.”
A major addition to the Google Play Games store announced Monday is a tweaked algorithm the company said will allow quality titles to rise above the often-cluttered catalogue while also encouraging developers to take more risks. Instead of only showcasing titles with a high volume of downloads, the algorithms will now also use engagement metrics and star ratings.
This tweak means an independent title that may not have a high number of initial downloads can get more attention in the store because the few who did install it play for long periods of times and often, signalling high quality to the algorithm.
“We want to make sure great games rise to the surface, wherever they are from,” said Moledina, adding there are also new pages launching soon where human editors will curate tiles. “But especially indies, because they really require the platform to take responsibility and shine the spotlight on things that are innovative.”
Developers are also getting new marketing tools in the Google Play store that the company said will help highlight promotions and generate more revenue. Now when a developer wants to put its game on sale, it will have the option for strikethrough pricing to signal a discount to consumers while still showing the original price beside it. Previously, prices could be changed but didn’t indicate a promotion unless the developer took the extra time to create a new in-store image to highlight a discount.
“Strikethrough pricing is part of the consumer lexicon,” said Moledina. “We’ve been piloting this and in the early testing we saw that games saw conversion ranging from 3x all the way up to 20x.”
Since the release of Android’s Nougat iteration, Google has been adding more functionality into the operating system that allows developers to make more of what it calls “high fidelity games.” The Vulkan API allows for developers to create high-performance 3D graphics while something called Firebase gives developers support tools like push notifications, analytics, cloud storage and ads.
Google also announced Monday that it is streamlined Firebase integration for developers who use the popular C++ programming language and Unity. “Those have been big asks along the way,” Moledina said.
Though Google said it wants to help independent titles succeed, the company was also sure to emphasize successful games from major studios during its keynote. Titles such as Pokemon Go, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, and Clash Royale have all resonated with Android users and are an example of “high quality games,” the company said.