HIGHLIGHTS

Google is releasing Google Play Games as a stand-alone software for Windows.

Users will soon be able to play Android games directly from Google on their Windows PCs.

The Google Play Games app will be released next year.

Why in news 

Google revealed intentions to bring Android games to Windows PCs at The Game Awards 2021. Next year, Google will release a standalone programme for Windows that will bring the Google Play Games platform to the platform. Users will be able to play Android games straight from Google on their Windows PCs as a result of this breakthrough. Users will also be able to go back and forth between Android phones and tablets, Chromebooks, and Windows PCs at the same time. It's unclear whether the whole Google Play library will be available when the new service launches on PC.

Google hinted the coming of Google Play Games on Windows in 2022 during The Game Awards. The latest move by the tech behemoth will bring one of the most extensive gaming ecosystems to Windows PCs. Players will be able to access hundreds of Android games from their computers. The Locked Folder function was first released by Google Photos in May, but it was only available on Google Pixel handsets. It now appears to be making its way to more Android handsets, as Google promised a while back. Google said in October that this capability would be available to more Android users in the future. The Google Photos Locked Folder feature has begun to roll out to more people, however it is currently only available on select handsets.

As previously reported, the Locked Folder functionality for Google Photos was announced during the Google I/O event in May. The function was only available for Pixel phones at the time. However, the capability is now available on a growing number of Android handsets. This functionality was discovered initially by Android Police.  on the other hand, was able to independently verify this capability on a Motorola Edge 20 Fusion and a OnePlus 7, both of which were running Android. Players will be able to restart games on a desktop PC after playing them on a phone, tablet, or Chromebook with the new software. However, the specifics of the technology Google is utilising to imitate Android apps on Windows, as well as which games will wind up on PC, are currently unclear.