One of the goals of Google Play game services is to allow developers to focus on what they’re good at as game developers — creating great gaming experiences for their users, by building on top of what Google is good at: mobile and cloud services. Integral to that is an easy integration process, one that provides a whole host of features with little engineering work required.
The gaming studios below understood the opportunity that Google Play game services unlocked, and are starting to see real results following their successful integrations.
Concrete Software — Straightforward, easy to implement
About the developer
- Concrete Software, makers of PBA Bowling Challenge
- Added support for multiplayer, leaderboards and achievements through Google Play game services
Results
- Session lengths have increased more than 15%
Concrete Software added several features from Google Play game services into one of their top titles, PBA Bowling Challenge, including support for multiplayer, leaderboards, and achievements.
So far, their users have loved the new additions: average session length is up more than 15%. Keith Pichelman, CEO of Concrete Software, explains:
"The Google Play game services were straightforward and easy to implement. We had been researching options for multiplayer services, so when Google Play game services came out, it was an easy decision for us. Not only were they easy to integrate, but the features have worked flawlessly.
"PBA Bowling Challenge now has real-time multiplayer which our users instantly were thrilled with; you can see in the reviews how people immediately raved about the new game experience.
"We also included achievements, leaderboards, and most recently cloud synchronization from the Google Play game services as well. Using the game services in PBA Bowling Challenge was a huge success, enough so that we are now going back to our other titles, adding the features to them as well."
Session lengths up: After adding support for multiplayer with Google Play game services, Concrete Software saw an increase in session lengths of more than 15% for PBA Bowling Challenge.
Glu: It’s a must-have for all titles
About the developer
- Glu Mobile, creators of Eternity Warriors 2
- Has already integrated 5 titles with Google Play game services
Results
- In Eternity Warriors 2, 7-day user retention is up 40%
- 20% increase in play sessions per day as well
Glu was one of the first developers to integrate Google Play game services, with Eternity Warriors 2. Based on this first success, Glu has integrated game services into several more games, including Samurai vs. Zombies 2, Frontline Commando: D-Day, Contract Killer 2, and Zombies Ate My Friends.
Already supported in Eternity Warriors 2, they’ve seen a 40% increase in 7-day user retention and a 20% increase in play sessions per day. Sourabh Ahuja, Glu's Vice President of Android Development, explains:
“Multiplayer, leaderboards, achievements — these are all things that we had to build individually for our titles. The availability of these features in Google Play game services helps us make our games stickier, and it’s awesome that it comes directly from Google.
"It’s flexible enough that we were able to make it interoperable with our in-house systems. We look forward to utilizing game services extensively across our portfolio."
User retention up: Glu saw a 40% increase in 7-day user retention for Eternity Warriors 2 after integrating with Google Play game services.
Vector-Unit: An awesome multiplayer experience
About the developer
- Vector Unit, creators of Riptide GP2
- Added multiplayer to Riptide GP2 through Google Play game services
Results
- With an easy multiplayer solution, they were able to focus on the gameplay
- Early reviews of Riptide GP2 called multiplayer “one of the sweetest cherries on top!”
Vector Unit just launched their latest title, Riptide GP2, with Google Play game services integration, and it has one of the strongest integrations of multiplayer yet. Early reviews call multiplayer “one of the sweetest cherries on top!”.
Ralf Knoesel, CTO of Vector Unit, tells more about how they've used Google Play game services:
“We wanted to provide a really compelling multiplayer experience for our users, and Google Play game services allowed us to do just that. With multiplayer, you can show off your skills and your custom-tuned hydro jet in 4-way online battles with friends and players around the world.
"By providing an easy way to power this multiplayer experience, we were able to focus on making the gameplay come alive — like the stunts, which are more daring and slicker than ever (with more of them to master), or the realistic detail of the water splashing against the camera lens.”
Multiplayer and more: Google Play game services helped Vector Unit pack an awesome multiplayer experience into Riptide GP 2, so they could focus on building a great gaming experience.