Google announced its Android Game Development Kit (AGDK) as part of the Game Development Summit 2021, releasing a “play as you download” feature as well.
In a Google blog post, the tech company detailed their announcement for the Android Game Development Kit. they describe the kit as a useful way to “develop, optimize, and deliver high-quality Android games.”
AGDK should help optimize development
For the longest time, Android game development happens through their official SDK. The Android Studio was a way for devs to build any type of software for the platform. Even then, it was not optimized to improve game dev times.
WIth the AGDK, Google expects gaming titles for the platforms to be easier. They are looking to keep the titles coming and improve the quality of Android titles. Apart from big dev studios, Android is still a hit and miss with the titles on the store.
“During our Game Developer Summit, we shared updates on a breadth of tools and solutions to help you across the lifecycle of your gaming business,” said the post.
“We announced new tools to make game development easier, updates on a growing ecosystem to help get your games running on more screens, and new opportunities to drive your go-to-market success on Google Play.
“We launched the Android Game Development Kit, a full range of tools and libraries to help you develop, optimize, and deliver high-quality Android games.”
Google offers more stats and features for Android Gaming
Google released more than the Android Game Development Kit. They also bragged about the higher Google Play usage for their Chrome OS. They claim that they grew 300% more users, which marks the highest usage year for them.
They also note that Unity has now introduced Chrome OS support on Unity 2021.2. The system will support Unity 2020 LTS later this year, making it a great place to gain a bigger audience.
Google also introduced “Play as you download” built-in into the core of Android 12. Play Asset Delivery is also there to lessen the wait time for downloads.
“Play as you download, built into the core of Android 12, will allow users to get into gameplay in seconds while game assets are downloaded in the background,” added the post. “We are seeing games being ready to open at least 2 times faster and we are very excited about the improved user experience.”
The Android Game Development Kit post has more information on the blog. It also points devs towards metrics that can help convince them that Android is a great place to develop for.
Featured image courtesy of Android Developers/Youtube Screenshot