Google is making big changes to its Play Games profiles. Starting from September 23, Play Games profiles will get “new social features” and show “gaming stats and milestones” to other players.
Play Games already has profiles, but they are hard to access by other players and mostly just show your achievements. Google’s description of the updates isn’t very clear on what social features it will be adding, but it sounds similar to what Steam does.
On Steam, your profile is easily visible to your friends, and they can see which games you’ve played, are playing right now, and your achievements in those games.
The update to Google Play Games will automatically roll out on September 23 to most global users, with the UK and EU following on October 1.
Here’s Google’s email to users.
We’ll soon update the way gamer profiles work on Google Play.
Starting on September 23rd, we’ll begin updating Play Games profiles, including yours. Your profile will include your gaming stats and milestones from games you’ve installed from Google Play and new social features. Your profile and related features will soon show up right on Google Play so it’s easier to access all of our gaming offerings.
To power features and services related to your gaming profile, Google will collect information about your game usage, such as which games you’ve played and when you’ve played them. We’ll also use this data to improve the Google Play gaming experience. Just like today, developers may receive information about your profile and your activity and purchases in their game to help them provide and improve the game, subject to their privacy policies. Developers may also send data to Google about your activity in their games, such as your achievements and game progress.
When we update your profile, we’ll use your existing profile visibility settings as the default settings for your updated profile. For example, if your current profile is set to “visible to everyone,” then information about your updated profile will also be visible to everyone. You can learn more about or update your current profile visibility settings here.
Your profile will be updated automatically, so you don’t need to take any action. Remember that you can delete your Play Games profile from your Google Account at any time.
You can also delete your Google Account entirely. Deleting your Google Account will delete all data and content in that account, like emails, files and photos.
We’re excited to show you your new integrated gaming experience and look forward to seeing you on Google Play.