Google directly competes with Steam and Epic by offering its own PC games

Google is expanding its catalogue of its own PC games, opening up publishing to interested developers. This was revealed at Google's annual Game Developers Summit.

Here's What We Know

The company launched Google Play Games for PC in 2022. About two years after that, the company announced the expansion of its catalogue with more of its own PC games.

At this point, you can already install and play some native Windows games via Play Games for PC, a selection of partners that Google works with. These include games like Lineage2M, Odin: Valhalla Rising, Genshin Impact and Dragonheir: Silent Gods.

Google wants to expand the number of its own games by opening up the publication with games to all interested developers. The company hasn't announced a time frame, but developers can already show their interest now.

While you can easily get native PC games on established platforms like Steam or Epic, Google wants to entice you with tighter integration with your Google account. This allows you to use Play Store payment methods and credits, and gives you access to Play Pass content on PC. It also allows for tighter integration between mobile and desktop platforms.

In addition, Google announced several innovations relevant to mobile devices. In particular, Google's AdMob ads could become a more important part of games thanks to new immersive adverts. Google states that "publishers will be able to reimagine the in-game ad experience and show ads that fit naturally into game environments." This works across a variety of game genres, with plenty of placement options such as level breaks, level progression and more.

Source: Android Police