Google Play at GDC
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Google Play unveils new developer tools and games at GDC

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 2 min

In 2016, nearly 300 million new users adopted Android devices from emerging markets such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia. That helped mobile games on Google Play get better traction, according to a post by Paul Bankhead, director of product management at Google Play.

And last year, more than 100 million new users were able to access locally relevant forms of payments (such as direct carrier billing or gift cards) helping more people globally access and buy their favorite apps and games on Google Play. Google disclosed the new information at its annual developer day at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.