Google Play is adding a raft of new discovery, curation and AI features

Google Play is rolling out new discovery and engagement tools for games, including a personalised Game Finder, 48-hour competitive Sprints and Playbacks in Sidekick.

Google detailed the updates in a blog post from Google Play vice president and general manager Sam Bright and a developer blog post, saying its You tab now has over 250m monthly active users and its unified gaming platform connects over 700m gamer profiles.

Game Finder recommends titles based what Google calls ‘Gamer DNA’ – player preferences and behaviour, essentially – as well as community reviews. Players can tailor games, genres and mechanics to fine-tune the results. It also explains why a game has been suggested and shows how similar players are engaging with it, how many of the people they follow are playing it and which games are trending.

Game Finder draws on a community of over 1.2bn players and begins rolling out to English-language users in the US, with more markets coming soon.

Google is also introducing Game Playlists, which let players curate collections of games. Sharing playlists and exploring other players’ lists will follow.

Sprints are 48-hour challenges that match two to five players of similar skill. They build on Leagues, which turn in-game leaderboards into month-long competitive seasons. Sprints are rolling out to all markets.

Sidekick, Google’s in-game overlay that has reached over 285m users and is rolling out to select devices, is adding Playbacks. These let players record 30-second clips of their best plays and share them with friends without leaving the game.

Quests are expanding beyond Play Points to include in-game rewards such as character skins, performance boosters and currencies.

Community Posts let players ask and answer questions about a game on its detail page. They are available across all games and languages with automatic translations, and support for developer posts and official announcements will follow over the coming weeks.

Google is bringing PC titles such as Dave the Diver and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun to Play, with Replaced, Chosen by Odin and Over the Hill due over the next few months. All can be played across Android mobile and PC with cloud save.

Game Trials, which let players try full premium games for a limited time before they buy, are expanding from mobile to PC.

Google Play Points is kicking off Play Fest, a week-long event featuring Play Points multipliers, in-game items, developer offers and sweepstakes.

Google said Play in Gemini has driven over 6m app installs in the two months since launch and will start rolling out to all Gemini users soon. Gemini Live now offers the same recommendations through voice conversations.

Developers can enable these features through Game Stats and Play Games Rewards. Game Stats takes basic gameplay signals such as match completions, score thresholds and milestones, which allows games to show daily Streaks and become eligible for Leagues and Sprints. Play Games Rewards, which syncs in-game rewards with Play Points, is also now available.

Google’s Apps Experience and Level Up quality programs reward standout apps and games with lower service fees. Titles that have integrated the Level Up guidelines include Summoners War, PUBG Mobile and Fruit Ninja. The company said PUBG Mobile drove a 22% uplift in new installs from high-value players and a 62% uplift in spend per buyer among engaged players.

Apps Experience and Level Up are available in Australia, Japan, the EEA, UK and US, and will roll out to Korea by the end of the year.

Last week we learned that Google is fighting a UK class action worth more than $1.33bn (£1bn) over the commissions it charges on the Play Store.