Google Play Games nabs 100M users over last 6 months — and gets new features like Quests

Only a year old, Google Play Games is growing at rapid rate.

At its Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco today, the company revealed that developers and Android owners are all hopping aboard Google Play Games. The company introduced this connected platform at last year’s I/O, and since then it has popped up in hundreds of games that use it for achievements, leaderboards, and online multiplayer. Now, the company is preparing to launch some new features — like Quests — as the platform continues to expand.

“Google Play Games is now the fastest growing mobile game network of all time,” Google Play product manager Ellie Powers said. “We’ve activated over 100 million new users over the past six months.”

One improvement is coming to each player’s Google Play Games profile. This will now better reflect the games you play and the achievements you’ve unlocked. The company is also improving cloud saves. Google Play Games has always enabled developer to provide cloud saves where a player could pause their game on one device and pick it up from the same point on another. Now, Google Play Games will surface all of these instances in a Saved Games tab.

Finally, Google is introducing something called Quests. This provides developers with a way to create in-game challenges that reward players using Play Games services without having to update the game itself. This should decrease the amount of work involved while also increasing player retention.

Powers noted that these features will all roll out “soon” with the next update for Google Play Games services and the Google Play Games app.