In the closing months of last year, news came through that in the very simplest of terms, Google was planning on letting users stream apps directly from Search results. In the more wider sense, this was a move designed to better advertise apps and one which would allows users to test run an app before downloading it. Following on from that particular strain of news and it now looks like Google is planning on doing the same thing with games.
Google has today announced a number of updates to Google Play Games. The headline feature being that Google will introduce ‘Search Trial Run Ads’ in the next few weeks. This feature essentially is the Search results game testing feature, as it will allow users who search for a particular game the option to tap “Try Now” and play the game for ten minutes without downloading the game. Again, this is an ad-based feature which will allow developers to offer a free trial-run of the game in the hope the user will download the game after testing. To make use of the feature, Android device owners will have to be using their mobile browser and will need to be on a Wi-Fi connection. You can see an example of how this feature will look in the image below.
That is not the extent to the updates rolling out to Play Games though, as Google has also announced additional features which are again further designed to increase both the exposure of Android games and the revenues that can be generated from them. One of the features is the use of ‘Portrait Video Ads’. This feature will see video ads being optimized so that they can display as full screen ads on devices that are held vertically. Likewise, Google is also introducing a new “Indie Corner” to Google Play which will focus on highlighting a selection of games designed by indie developers. Another new feature being introduced is a Video Recording API which developers can introduce to their games and will let game users record their sessions and then share them with others, again with a view to increasing exposure of the games. For those interested in reading about any of these new features in more detail, head through the source link below.