Beta announced for Google Play Games on Windows PCs in Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

By Zachary Boddy
published

Be among the first to test Google Play Games on Windows PCs.

Google Play Games On Windows Pcs Image
Google Play Games On Windows Pcs Image (Image credit: Google | YouTube)

What you need to know

  • During The Game Awards 2021, Google revealed it's bringing Google Play Games to Windows PCs in the future.
  • The release will allow users to play many of the top mobile games in the world directly on their PC, with seamless syncing and account progression.
  • On Wednesday, Google revealed that the first beta for Google Play Games on PC is coming to Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
  • Interested players can sign-up now to potentially join the beta and experience how Google is bringing its mobile gaming platform to Windows.

One of the quieter announcements aired during The Game Awards 2021 was the reveal that Google Play Games is coming to Windows PCs in 2022. On Wednesday, Google announced that the first beta for Google Play Games on PC is coming in the near future to interested users in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea regions, with sign-ups for the beta available now.

Google's efforts to port its gargantuan Google Play Games platform to PCs will allow users to access thousands of the best Android games on Microsoft's Windows operating system, complete with seamless switching between devices, Google Account syncing and cloud saves, Achievements progress, and more. Players will even be able to earn Google Play Points by playing games through Google Play Games on PC. The available mobile games can be downloaded directly to your PC, and will even support mouse and keyboard input as opposed to touch.

While on the surface mirroring Microsoft's efforts to bring Android apps to Windows 11, Google is utilizing its own techniques to make the move. Google Play Games will feature a standalone PC app that serves as the access point for players using the service.

Google Play Games On Windows Pcs Image

Source: Google (Image credit: Source: Google)

At least with the initial beta, Google is limiting access to three regions at the moment. If you reside in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Korea, and are interested in experiencing what Google is attempting here, you can now sign-up for the Google Play Games on PC beta (opens in new tab). The first beta won't include all Google Play Games, but rather a reduced catalog including popular mobile games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Summoners War, State of Survival: The Joker Collaboration, and Three Kingdoms Tactics.

No information is available yet, but Google is planning future betas, which will expand to additional regions to include more people. It's unlikely that Google Play Games titles will become contenders for our list of best PC games, but it may be a welcome addition for thousands of users looking for more casual experiences on their Windows devices.

Zachary Boddy
Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer primarily focused on covering the latest news, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life, and have been with Windows Central and its sister sites since 2019. While originally brought on to write about all things Minecraft, Zachary has since expanded to write about practically everything that Windows Central covers. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.

5 Comments
  • I'm really curious as to which games are people waiting to play this way. The thing is, they will have requirements to run properly, I don't think an old PC with onboard graphics will cut it, unless it's a recent one.
    In any case, it's probably me, I can't think of any reason to try this or ever use it.
  • If you play games on your phone, it might be nice for them to sync to your PC and be playable there too. Mobile gaming is huge, this might make sense.
  • My personal observation would be many of the RPG and certain platformer games that don't have PC ports. The thing is, many of the games on Google Play are already at the level of console-like quality. Not in terms of graphics but gameplay and mechanics, especially for the ones with controller support. Doesn't mean they are all on-par with consoles, but they are not all casual plays. This attracts mobile phone games who wish they can play it with they PC. Though there is a question if this will lead these developers to really do a PC port of their games in the long term, or if this is just good enough for them. Also I noticed that it first launches to these east asia region, which I think where rpg, moba, platformers, visual novels, gachas and some other types of mobile games are more popular.
  • It better have proper controller support...
  • I was casually playing some Steam and Epic games with some Game Pass sprinkled in on my PC, but when I heard the news that I can play smartphone games on my device I dropped everything and started installing some ad based freemium experiences designed for small screens and pitiful performance. Oh wait, I didn't.