Google Play Games services introduced Events and Quests, and a new Save Game API last month. The C++ and the iOS SDKs now support these features.
The following were available via web API or Android SDK but are now also available in the C++ and iOS SDKs -
- Events and Quests -allows developers to introduce new challenges for players to complete and incentivizing them with some in-game rewards. Developers can do this without pushing an update to the play or the app store.
- Saved Games - a new API for saving game progression data. Along with saving state, the API also encourages a visual experience by associating a representative image with corresponding save files, as well as descriptions; all of which can make it easier for the player to select one of the multiple saved-games. The API uses the player's Google Drive quota to save the game state and retain it across devices.
Apart from this, the C++ SDK also now supports the Turn-based Multi-player feature which was already available with iOS and Android SDKs.
Google also introduced new alert types - developers can now receive alert on the developer-console, for e.g. when the player is unable to send a Gift or when players are unable to join a match.
The new features were originally announced in Google I/O, along with several other updates in Play Services 5.0.