14 DAY TRIAL // Mountain View-based Internet giant Google is gearing up for a series of new enhancements to Google Play Games, some of which have been detailed in a blog post that was pulled soon after being published.
The company has posted on the Android Developers Blog a message that provided some info on new features planned for Google Play Games and other services just ahead of the Game Developers Conference that is set to kick off today.
While the post has been removed, supposedly in order to go live a bit later, it remained untouched in Google cache, thus allowing us to learn a bit more on what’s coming our way, as PhoneArena notes.
One of the main enhancements that will come to Games is support for turn-based and real-time multiplayer capabilities on both Android and iOS, which should fuel cross-platform game development, as Google puts it.
The company has announced an update for the Play Games Unity Plug-in, which should deliver support for cross-platform multiplayer services, while also unveiling an early Play Games C++ SDK for achievements and leaderboards.
At the same time, the company is planning better Play Games statistics on the Google Play Developer Console, which will offer info on signed in users, such as daily active users and retention analysis and achievement, as well as leaderboard performance.
At the same time, the update will come with game gifts, a service that is meant to allow users to send virtual in-game objects to people in their circles.
The Play Games application will deliver support for multiplayer invites directly, so that players can easily discover games and keep playing them. Moreover, the Google Play store will include 18 new game categories, so that users can find games easier than before.
Some other improvements will also be released for game publishers, including the availability of Google Analytics directly in the AdMob interface, for devs to get a better idea of how users interact with apps.
In-app purchase ads should be able to offer new opportunities to game builders, such as the possibility to target users with specific promotions. Overall, these enhancements should turn into more revenue for developers.
As mentioned above, the blog post was not supposed to go live just yet, though it should not be too long before Google starts offering specifics on this.
In fact, the company notes there that it will fully detail the above on Tuesday, March 18, when it will host a Developer Day at the aforementioned GDC. Stay tuned for more on this.