Summary
- Earlier this year, Google launched the Play Games Beta for PC, bringing popular Android games to Windows machines and optimizing them for keyboard and mouse input.
- When accessing the Play Store website on a Windows computer, the Games catalog opens automatically now, showcasing titles compatible with the Play Games Beta for PC.
- Google's push for Play Games Beta on PC is a smart move, as many people may use the Play Store website to find new games.
The Google Play Store is arguably the most popular app store for Android users, even though the OS allows other app stores to operate. Microsoft Windows recently opened its doors to Android apps as well, allowing them to run just like native programs built for Windows. Leveraging this advancement, Google launched the Play Games on PC beta in the US in November last year. However, it’s only now that Google is getting serious about marketing games from the Play Store for Windows users.
The previous landing page when you accessed the Play Store from a Windows machine
Google launched the Play Games Beta for Windows users in 2022, shortly after Windows gained support for Android apps. Windows users can pick from apps and games available on the Amazon App Store, but the choice can be rather limiting. Since Windows allows sideloading APKs, running apps from other sources was a non-issue. However, Google seized the opportunity to work with developers and optimize popular titles for keyboard and mouse input, so they are available on Windows. These titles are distributed through the game launcher catalog, the Play Store app from which you can remotely trigger an installation, and the Play Store website.
The Play Store now opens this page by default when you visit using a Windows computer
We recently noticed the Play Store automatically opens up the Games catalog for Windows when you access the website using a Windows machine. This places two big banners and at least four horizontal scrolling carousels front and center, prompting you to check out the Play Games Beta for PC, even if you may not have heard of it before. Thereafter, setting up the beta and hopping into your first game is fairly straightforward. In some instances, though, you may see a carousel between the two banners at the top of the page.
Google may insert a carousel between the two header banners in some cases
Before this, visiting the Play Store defaulted to the Mobile section of the Games catalog. We don’t think the push for Windows games is connected to installing the Play Games Beta, because we did that many months ago, but the UI only changed recently. Instead, we believe the Play Store now detects the device used to access the webpage, just like it uses the browser query to scale the web content suitably. So, if you visit the Play Store using Chrome for Windows, you may land on Play Games for PC instead of the usual page for mobile titles now.
Google’s bold and upfront push for Play Games Beta on PC is a great move because most people will likely use the Play Store website to discover new titles to install on their machine. The selection of optimized titles is limited, but we have cherry-picked the absolute best games for you, so you can get gaming right away.
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