Google is quietly embedding key features of its Play Games app, which allows you to track achievements in Android games, directly into the Play Store, according to Android Police, signaling that it may be headed for the infamous Google Graveyard.
Coder and self-proclaimed APK wipe specialist AssembleDebug wrote on X that Google hasn’t made any significant updates to the user interface and features on Google Play Games apps in months. However, AssembleDebug has seen updates under the hood of the Google Play Store app that include upcoming gamer profiles and the ability to “follow” other users. AssembleDebug claims that the Play Store can already track gamers’ achievements.
Google Play Games for Android was launched in 2013 to compete with Apple’s Game Center, a time when smartphone gaming was at its peak and first drew people’s attention to portable video game systems. Google often moved features between applications as they became obsolete, such as when Google Pay was superseded by Google Wallet.
The Google Play Games app is not the same as the Google Play Games service for PC, which allows you to play selected Android games on Windows computers (and has been in beta for over three years). Last month, Google announced that it would be adding more games to the PC app. However, the Google Play Games app on Android looks like it will be downsized before it finally ceases to exist.
