Google Play Store is getting a major revamp with the addition of several AI-powered features, a redesigned Apps tab, enhanced Play Games service, and better tools to help discover apps.
Among the highly talked about features with the new update is the addition of Gemini Live during games with the Sidekick feature. This feature brings a new overlay.
Sidekick is a new in-game overlay that allows users to take a screenshot, record their screen, stream their match on YouTube, and other options while playing their game. The most important feature in this menu is the option for Gemini Live, which allows users to activate the AI assistant to ask for support during gameplay.
The feature should work similar to the Gemini Live feature on the Gemini app, which allows users to open their camera and ask questions about their surroundings, but it remains to be seen how much of a help Gemini can be during live games.
Google’s official description of the feature reads:
“Sidekick curates and organizes relevant gaming info, and provides direct access to Gemini Live for real-time guidance, so you can stay in the game.”
Another pain point in this process could be that most OEMs like Vivo, Oppo, or OnePlus pack their phones with a dedicated gaming mode that pops up during gameplay. This means that users will have to disable either the Sidekick or the OEM’s gaming mode if they don’t want to have two pop-ups taking up space on their phone.
Other changes coming to Google Play Store:
Google is also introducing a new “You” tab on the Play Store, which will include data like rewards, subscriptions, recommendations, stats, and updates to make it easier for users to manage and discover content across their devices.
Apart from gaming, the “You” tab also allows users to discover content across their other interests and apps, like tailored audiobook or podcast recommendations.
Google is also bringing a gamer profile to the Play Store that will allow users to easily track stats and achievements across games and devices. Users will also be able to customize their profiles by creating Gen AI-based avatars to express their personality.
After being in beta for over three years, Google Play Games will now be generally available and work across mobile and PC games with support for over 200,000 titles.
The “You” tab and the integrated gaming platform will begin rolling out this week to ‘select Play Points markets,’ and additional countries will be added from October 1st.
