Google plans to bring Android apps and games to Mac and Windows in the coming years, according to internal documents recently made public as a result of the ongoing lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games.
As part of a project it calls “Games Future,” the company wants to make quality games available “on all screens.” The service is expected to run alongside Stadia, Google’s platform for streaming PC games to any device.
There are ways to run Android apps and games on Mac and PC already. But the experience is less than ideal in most cases, and lots of popular titles simply don’t work when you attempt to run them in an emulator.
Google wants to fix that so that Android users one day have the ability to access their favorite releases anywhere. It has already brought Android apps to Chrome OS, but it plans a big expansion that will support other platforms.
Games Future will bring Android titles to macOS
Internal documents reveal what appears to be a Google presentation that lays out its Games Future roadmap between now and 2025. Its immediate goal is bringing select Android games to PC, with cross-platform support.
Later, Google plans to greatly increase the catalog of Android titles available on desktops, and extend support to macOS. It also plans a “game network” that will offer live streaming, rewards, and the ability to connect with friends.
One document reveals Google’s plan to “provide the most reach of any platform.” It also hints at a “low-cost universal portable game controller,” that will provide access to Android games anywhere — even on smart TVs.
Some of the information in the slides has been redacted, and Google is yet to make Games Future or any element of it official. But certain references, such as those to Android 12, suggest this is a project that’s very much alive.
You can read the full, 70-page document, released as part of the discovery process when Epic Games took Apple to court, on The Verge.
