supercharges Android gaming with cloud saves, matchmaking

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 15 May 2013

Attention Android gamers: Now, what happens in Vice City on your phone doesn’t have to stay in Vice City on your phone—or even on Android.

Announced dnesday during the I/O keynote address, the new ay Games services As let developers include the fun features we first heard about as part of last week’s leak. As anticipated, ay Games services packs in support for cloud-synced game progression, in-game achievements, leaderboards, a heavy dose of + integration designed to make it easier than ever to play nice with others.

Cloud-synced games work pretty much as you’d expect it to: You can start a game on one device, then pick up where you left off on another. kewise, the addition of in-game achievements—similar to what Apple offers in iOS’s Game Center—is relatively straightforward.

Speaking of Apple, the ay games services A can carry over to iOS the b, essentially allowing developers to create a cross-platform gaming experience if they choose to use ‘s gaming As.

+ will serve as the identity backbone for games tapping in to ay Games services, sits at the heart of its social abilities: Notifications, game invites, leaderboards matchmaking tools will all be made available to mobile game players, all tap into your G+ circles.

Don’t have any buddies online or willing to waste time with you? ay Games can find you some friends—or at least competitors—with its baked-in auto match-making tool.

(Click to enlarge.)

tried showing off the Riptide 2 game in-action, but, as you can see above, the demo didn’t quite showcase the new features in the best light.

Android vice president Hugo Barra says will supply all the heavy lifting on the backend, ‘s been working with a bevy of mobile game developers to offer a flood of ay Games-enabled titles today. Expect to see them in the ay store later, after a ay services update brings Games support to all Android devices rocking the Froyo OS (that’s Android 2.2) or higher.