Google is developing a dedicated community forum for gamers directly within the Google Play Store, a move that could transform the platform into a centralized hub for gaming enthusiasts.
The new in-app feature, tentatively referred to as the “Google Play Games Community Forum,” is designed to enable users to create posts, share gaming tips, ask questions, and initiate discussions about games. This development has been tracked through several months of APK teardowns, with initial clues emerging in April and more definitive evidence appearing in June and with the latest Google Play Store v47.4.31-31 update.
In April, strings related to community posting within the Google Play Store were identified. These strings indicated functionalities such as creating and deleting posts, adding comments, and reacting to content. Examples of these strings include: “You’re posting publicly across Google Play. Please follow our community guidelines.”, “To remove a reaction, tap the reaction icon again.”, “Add a comment”, “Discard your post?”, “Your post was deleted”, and “The post was flagged as inappropriate.” These early indicators suggested a social, interactive component being integrated into the Play Store environment.
Further evidence emerged in June with the discovery of additional strings that painted a clearer picture of a forum-like structure. These strings, such as “Posts may appear publicly with your Google Account name and photo. Posts must follow Google policies.”, “You can delete your post anytime and view all your posts in %1$s.”, and “Your Contributions”, hinted at users having visibility into their community interactions and personal contributions. The inclusion of “Your Community” further solidified the concept of a dedicated space for user-generated content and discussions.
Accompanying these strings were three specific URLs, though not yet live, that provided strong hints about the feature’s scope and target audience. These URLs—https://support.google.com/googleplay?p=games-community-forum-content-policies, https://support.google.com/googleplay?p=games-community-forum-post, and https://support.google.com/googleplay?p=games-community-forum-reactions—explicitly linked the feature to “games-community-forum,” strongly suggesting its focus on Google Play Games users and its intended structure as a community forum.
The most recent and significant development comes with Google Play Store v47.4.31-31, which allowed for the enablement of the user interface (UI) for this “Google Play Games Community Forum.” This UI reveals a new “Your contribution” option within the Play Store’s “My apps and devices” section. Although currently displaying placeholder text due to its work-in-progress status, the accompanying icons and descriptive text clearly outline its purpose. The “Your contribution” section is designed to showcase “Likes, Comments, and Posts.” The explicit text descriptions within this section, such as “Share gaming tips, ask questions, and get discussions going” and “Show your appreciation to help posts and comments get noticed,” leave little doubt about the feature’s intended functionality.
This “My contribution” section is expected to serve as a personalized profile page for users, allowing them to view all their posted content, liked items, and comments made on other users’ posts. This comprehensive overview of a user’s activity within the forum underscores the commitment to fostering a vibrant and engaged community.
The integration of a gaming community forum into the Play Store aligns with Google’s broader strategy to enhance its gaming ecosystem. Google has been actively promoting Google Play Games on PC and working to consolidate features from the standalone Google Play Games app into the Play Store. It is highly probable that this new Games Community Forum is an integral part of this effort to establish the Play Store as a central gaming hub.
If the Games Community Forum extends its reach to Play Games for PC, it could provide a seamless and convenient platform for gamers to interact across both Android and PC environments. This cross-platform integration would significantly expand Google’s footprint in the gaming and forum landscape, catering to a substantial segment of the gaming community.
As of now, Google has not officially announced this Games Community Forum feature within the Play Store. Given that the current branding is speculative and “too bland to market to users,” it is anticipated that the feature will be launched under a different, more engaging name. APK teardowns, while providing insights into potential future features based on development code, do not guarantee a public release, as such features may be altered or abandoned before launch.
