If you’re an avid Google or Android user, you may have recently gotten invited by Google to try out the Beta for their Google Play Games on PC. Let’s break down everything you need to know before you jump in and start playing games on your desktop or laptop.
Image: Arthur Collins / GameCrate
What is Google Play Games and the PC beta?
Google Play is Google’s service that allows you to download games and apps to your Android devices. It’s their version of Apple’s App Store. When you download anything, it goes through Google Play. You also find books, video, and music through the Play Store. Google Play Games is specifically the section for Games. Pretty simple.
They’re looking at getting your favorite mobile games onto your PC now. If you play a lot of mobile games, this is big news for those that want to play on a much bigger screen.
The beta has been going for a while now. But, they’re slowly adding countries to the list, near weekly at this point.
The options of games that work on PC currently are slim, at the moment. Games are likely to be added with time. But, out of the dozens of games that we’ve played previously, only four were available for us to play. Luckily, two that we play avidly are available. All of them run really smoothly for being heavier games. We’d argue that they run even better than on our Google Pixel 6a phone.
How do I get into the Google Play Games beta?
It’s great that Google is offering this to their fans. But, maybe you didn’t get an invite. How do you get in? The good news is that you just have to go to the official site for it, and Download the Beta from there. Seriously, that’s it.
The next part is the trickier part: installation. They have minimum requirements. But, most games are going to need a little bit closer to the “recommended” settings. Here’s an easy list to see if your computer can handle it.
Here’s the minimum requirements to run Google Play Games beta on your PC:
OS: Windows 10 (v2004)
Storage: Solid state drive (SSD) with 10 GB of available storage space
Memory: 8 GB of RAM
Graphics: IntelⓇ UHD Graphics 630 GPU or comparable
Processor: 4 CPU physical cores
If you’re looking at utilizing the power of your PC a bit more, Google agrees with you. While these settings will get the games open, they might be a tad sluggish and make it more difficult for you to play.
Image: Arthur Collins / GameCrate
The recommended settings are nearly the same. But, it amps the processor need up to 8 CPU physical cores and, as you expect, a higher grade graphics card. They use a Gaming-class GPU, like the Nvidia GeForce MX450, as their example.
You also need to be the admin account on your Windows computer and make sure that your SSD is your primary drive. Additionally, it’s going to require “hardware virtualization” to be turned on.
Image: Arthur Collins / GameCrate
Some users don’t have to do a thing to their PC. It might already be turned on for you. The Google Play Games installation will include Hypervisor. You’ll need to download and install it. You’re done and ready to play.
On the other hand, if you’re running a PC that doesn’t have virtualization turned on, it will tell you before you even install the program. This happens sometimes for those that upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11, for instance. But, it can happen in other cases as well.
Turn on Hardware Virtualization for Google Play Games beta
Start by checking to see if your PC even offers Hardware Virtualization. This part is easy. Just CTRL+ALT+DEL and check to see if it’s on or off in your Task Manager. If it doesn’t show up at all, your computer likely can’t do it. You’re probably out of luck, sadly.
If it’s on, you’re good to go. If not, you’re gonna need to head into your BIOS. Before you do, hit CTRL+R to open the “Run” program. Type “systeminfo”, hit enter, and look at your details for the computer. Here, you can also see if hardware virtualization is available for you at all.
Next, you’re going to your BIOS. Yea, we’re diving into the depths of your PC here. Restart your computer and as the opening logos turn on, you’ll have to hit your BIOS key. Every PC is a little different. But, it’s usually something like DELETE, F2, F3, etc. It usually tells you on the screen when you reboot. Hit it quickly when it comes up on the screen before Windows itself boots up.
Once you’re in, you need to hunt down the section that configures your CPU. For us, it was in the “Advanced” section, so don’t forget to check there if you can’t find it. You need to now find the acceleration section. The next part depends on your PC. You’ll have to figure out which option is your version of Virtualization. It might be simply named “Hardware Virtualization”. Some PCs might call it something else, such as Hyper-V, Vanderpool, SVM, AMD-V, Intel Virtualization Technology, or VT-X.
If you need more information, you can find it on Virtual Metric. In any case, once you get it on, make sure you save your settings before you exit.
How can I install games on Google Play Games beta?
Once you download the Google Play Games beta, it’s going to have to log into your Google account. It seamlessly remembers your stats and Google Play settings from your normal Android devices, as long as you log in with the same account.
Image: Arthur Collins / GameCrate
It will also remember any games that it currently offers that you’ve played before. You simply have to click on a game you want to install and hit the “Install” button. It pops up a phone-shaped window with the game and you’re mobile gaming on a computer.
As of writing, there aren't a ton of games available just yet. But, more will come with time. One of our top picks for licensed gacha games is on the list though: Dragon Ball Legends. So, there’s that.
While you’re at it, check out our analysis of console gaming vs. PC gaming in 2023. There are a lot of details that people just don’t think about.