Android users already have heaps of games in Google Play; however, according to a leaked Android application package (APK) file, their gaming experience is soon going to change in a big way as these games will be a lot more social shortly. The upcoming Google Play Games is rumored to pack multiplayer functionality, in-game chat, leader boards, cloud save syncing, achievements, matchmaking and more along with a green controller-shaped icon in its shell.
Getting their hands on Google Play Services v3.1.36, the folks at Android Police reveal that the new offering is buried deep inside the latest version of Google Play Services, a part of the Android OS that deals with apps.
"Fresh out of Google HQ, we've managed to score a copy of the new Google Play Services v3.1.36, which is very slowly rolling out to devices right now. For comparison, the current Play Services that most people have is v3.0.27. 3.1 is a massive update - the strings file, for instance, has more than doubled from 300 to 700 entries. This is how Google is pushing out all the shared files for Google Play Games," the report states.
According to the leaked files, everything in the Google Play Games will be heavily managed socially with Google + integration. Google's social networking arm will handle all user ID information for Google Play Games. The Google + synchronization allows users to manage who can invite them to play a game, whose achievements they would like to see, who their achievements are shared with and more. Code in the APK indicates that the new platform will save game data in the cloud which will enable users to pick up an activity from where they left off later or continue the same on a different device.
The new service is not functional at this point in time suggesting there would be another one, possibly a user-facing app which works in conjunction with the background system. However, Google Play Games is heavily rumored to make an appearance at the upcoming I/O this coming week when the service will, hopefully, be revealed in detail.