Back in 2022, Google did the most surprising thing – launching a limited beta of bringing Android games to Windows PC. This allows Android users to play some great casual games on their PC via an official standalone app, which you could interpret as an official gaming emulator.
Known as “Google Play Games for PC”, it’s been in beta since the launch day while slowly expanding its geographic availability. It first released across select countries in Asia, followed by more across Asia and the Americas in late 2022, and then to Europe in mid 2023.
Now, the MENA region gets to experience it just in time for the winter holidays. You might already have received an automated email about it as well.
Seamless play and sync
The idea behind it is to seamlessly let players enjoy their Android games on Windows laptops, tablets, and PCs; don’t forget Chromebooks and Android-powered smarthphones. You’ll be able to start on one device and resume it on your PC, and vice-versa. Kind of sounds like the console’s quick resume feature since the PS4/Xbox One generation.
Not every game you’d imagine on Android-powered tables/smartphones will be available on Google Play Games for PC, as they have to go through certain platform checks and compatibility tests. Eventually, this will emerge from its long beta program and see more games join the cross-platform library.
Availability and Playable Specs
There has been no recent official announcement on the MENA release. The option showed up on the Google Play Store app on my smartphone itself. One tap and then I got the email invite to use it on my Windows PC.
To ensure that you can enjoy good performance on the Android games, Google has provided the below minimum specs
- Windows 10 (v2004)
- SSD
- Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU or equivalent (note that this is an integrated GPU; dedicated ones should perform better)
- 4 CPU physical cores (some games may specifically require an Intel CPU)
- 8GB of RAM
- 10GB of available storage space
- Windows admin account
- Hardware virtualization enabled
The virtualization part is important, as it enables the Android emulation layer in Windows. You’ll see prompts asking you to have it enabled before downloading and installing the Android games.
Check the BIOS settings for your PC/laptop to enable it, depending on whether you use an Intel or AMD CPU. Once enabled, you’ll have to restart your PC to enable Windows Hypervisor Platform.
Last but not the least, the additional countries where the beta has rolled out can be seen below. They are also reflected on the official page as well.
| GCC | North Africa + Others | Levant + ISC |
|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | Algeria | Turkey |
| Kuwait | Egypt | Jordan |
| Oman | Morocco | Iraq |
| Qatar | Tunisia | Lebanon |
| Saudi Arabia | Yemen | India |
| UAE | Pakistan | |
| Nepal | ||
| Sri Lanka |
While you can use your keyboard and mouse with Google Play Games for PC, a recent update enabled console controller support (PS4 DualShock, PS5 DualSense, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) and 4K screen resolution. Don’t forget to have a Google account.
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