Google has announced enhanced gaming profiles for Google Play, with a global rollout starting on 23 September 2025 and a one-week delay for the UK and European Economic Area until 1 October 2025, signalling a notable shift in how Android gaming identity and data are managed across devices, including PC users of Play Games on PC.
The new profiles introduce features to showcase and track game progress and statistics and add community-building options, with visibility controls that allow profiles to be public, friends-only, or private as per user choice in settings.
According to Google’s guidance and reporting, the upgrade changes how gaming data is handled to enable these capabilities, collecting information about installed and played Google Play games, play sessions and duration, and in some cases in‑game data such as saved progress, achievements, and leaderboard rankings from supported titles, with a one‑time option to import historic game data into the new profile for continuity and richer stats display.
Google says the data will be used to provide profile features and services and to improve the overall Google Play gaming experience, though advertising usage has not been explicitly addressed in the announcement and remains unclear at this time, prompting privacy-conscious users to review settings before the switch.
Privacy defaults will not change during migration, meaning private profiles will remain private after the update, which should reassure users wary of sudden exposure of gaming activity; access to controls remains under Settings > Google > Settings for Google apps > Play Games > Profile and privacy, with options for Everyone on Google Play Mobile App, Friends only, and Only you, alongside the ability to delete a gaming profile and game data if desired, though menu labels may vary slightly by device model and skin.
The timing dovetails with broader improvements across Google Play Games on PC, including performance and feature updates rolled out in 2025, suggesting a unified strategy to align identity, progression, and cross‑device visibility as the catalogue and platform support expand, which could make gaming more seamless for Indian users who switch between phone and desktop play while maintaining consistent achievements and stats.
Developers are currently working to modernize integrations with ongoing Play services updates and migration guidance around games SDKs to ensure compatibility with the evolving profile and sign‑in systems, reflecting Google’s steady push towards a more integrated gaming ecosystem across Android and PC.