Migration overview

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Google Play Games Services, games v1 SDK relies on Google Sign-In for Android which is deprecated and will be removed from the Google Play services Auth SDK (com.google.android.gms:play-services-auth) in 2025. New games apps can use games v1 until 2025. The Google Sign-In removal introduces dependency issues for existing games apps. Migrate existing games apps from the games v1 SDK to the games v2 SDK resolves dependency issues introduced by the Google Sign-In removal.

This document helps you understand the interactions between the games application and various SDKs. This document also compares the application's features with those of the Play Games Services games v1 and games v2 SDKs.

SDK interactions

The diagrams illustrate the interaction between a games application on Android, Google Mobile Services (GMS) Core, Play Games Services, and a third-party (3P) games server. It highlights how the application uses Google's services for authentication and game features, while also interacting with a separate third-party system.

The following is a brief overview of the components and SDKs:

• Games Application.
  • This represents the user's game application running on an Android-powered device.
  • It contains two primary components:
    • games v1 or games v2 SDK. The client-side SDK responsible for interacting with Play Games Services.
    • Auth SDK. Google Play services Auth SDK is responsible for handling user authentication and authorization flows in games v1.
  • Both SDKs communicate using AIDL (Android Interface Definition Language), indicating a communication pattern between different processes or services.
• GMS Core also called as Google Play Services.
  • This is the Google-proprietary layer on Android.
  • The games application uses two GMS Core modules:
    • Games Module. provides game-specific features, such as leaderboards, achievements, and game state management.
    • Auth Module. Handles user authentication and authorization operations.
  • The Games and Auth SDKs in the games application communicate with the corresponding modules using AIDL interfaces, indicating inter-process communication (IPC).

• Play Games Services gateway.
  • A logical gateway that mediates communication between the GMS Core and the Play Games Services server.
  • Handles API requests, data transformation, and authentication for the server communication.
• Play Games Services server.
  • Represents Play Games Services backend services responsible for storing game data, managing user accounts, and facilitating multiplayer features.
• Third-party games gateway.
  • If your games application qualifies as a third-party (3P) application, the client library communicates with the Play Games Services servers through the third-party games servers.
  • Implies that the application can also authenticate with a different service provider.
• Third-party games server.
  • Represents an optional external server the games application can interact with, likely for custom features or data management.
  • Communication with the application occurs through the third-party games gateway.

Feature comparison

This table gives you a feature comparison between the games v1 and games v2 SDKs:

Feature	games v1 SDK	games v2 SDK
Authentication	Integration with play-services-auth required.	Simplified and streamlined; no play-services-auth required.
Authorization	Additional code for success, failures, and retries.	Managed by the SDK
Server Access Token	Can request additional OAuth 2.0 scopes with GoogleSigninClient. Additional code for error handling during sign-in.	Additional scopes are not allowed. Additional code with a success failure callback with serverAuthcode.
Sign-in Process	Uses GoogleSigninClient. Additional code for handling of boilerplate code for auto-signin and error handling.	Uses GamesSignInClient. SDK handles boilerplate code, auto sign-in, and error handling.
Welcome Popup	Additional code required. Developers can control its placement and timing.	No Additional code required Consistent user interface across all PGS V2 configured games. .
Dependencies	Requires play-services-auth.	No separate dependency on play-services-auth.
Sign-out	Uses GoogleSignInClient.signOut.	Sign-out API is not supported.
Multiple Play Games Services accounts and per-game settings	Account selection and management is not available.	For each game, you can manage your Play Games Services account. This lets you select which account each game uses.