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Three backend engineers were told they were unfundable and building in a graveyard market. Ten years later, Heroic Labs is profitable, powers major game studios, and never raised VC money. Here's how they did it.
Learn how to enable the Firebase MCP server in Antigravity to accelerate app development
Posted by Dom Elliott – Principal Product Manager, Google Play and Eric Lynch - Senior Product Manager, Android Security In the mobile ecosystem, abuse can threaten your revenue, growth, and user trust. To help developers thrive, Google Play offers a resilient threat detection service, Play Integrity API . Play Integrity API helps you verify that interactions and server requests are genuine—coming from your unmodified app on a certified Android device, installed by Google Play. The impact is significant: apps using Play integrity features see 80% lower unauthorized usage on average compared to other apps. Today, leaders across diverse categories—including Uber, TikTok, Stripe, Kabam, Wooga, Radar.com, Zimperium, Paytm, and Remini—use it to help safeguard their businesses. We’re continuing to improve the Play Integrity API, making it easier to integrate, more resilient against sophisticated attacks, and better at recovering users who don’t meet integrity standards or encounter errors with new Play in-app remediation prompts. Detect threats to your business The Play Integrity API offers verdicts designed to detect specific threats that impact your bottom line during critical interactions. Unauthorized access : The accountDetails verdict helps you determine whether the user installed or paid for your app or game on Google Play. Code tampering : The appIntegrity verdict helps you determine whether you're interacting with your unmodified binary that Google Play recognizes. Risky devices and emulated environments : The deviceIntegrity verdict helps you determine whether your app is running on a genuine Play Protect certified Android device or a genuine instance of Google Play Games for PC. Unpatched devices : For devices running Android 13 and higher, MEETS_STRONG_INTEGRITY response in the deviceIntegrity verdict helps you determine if a device has applied recent security updates. You can also opt in to deviceAttributes to include the attested Android SDK version in the response. Risky access by other apps: The appAccessRiskVerdict helps you determine whether apps are running that could be used to capture the screen, display overlays, or control the device (for example, by misusing the accessibility permission). This verdict automatically excludes apps that serve genuine accessibility purposes. Known malware: The playProtectVerdict helps you determine whether Google Play Protect is turned on and whether it has found risky or dangerous apps installed on the device. Hyperactivity: The recentDeviceActivity level helps you determine whether a device has made an anomalously high volume of integrity token requests recently, which could indicate automated traffic and could be a sign of attack. Repeat abuse and reused devices: deviceRecall (beta) helps you determine whether you're interacting with a device that you've previously flagged, even if your app was reinstalled or the device was reset. With device recall, you can customize the repeat actions you want to track. The API can be used across Android form factors including phones, tablets, foldables, Android Auto, Android TV, Android XR, ChromeOS, Wear OS, and on Google Play Games for PC. Make the most of Play Integrity API Apps and games have found success with the Play Integrity API by following the security considerations and taking a phased approach to their anti-abuse strategy. Step 1: Decide what you want to protect : Decide what actions and server requests in your apps and games are important to verify and protect. For example, you could perform integrity checks when a user is launching the app, signing in, joining a multiplayer game, generating AI content, or transferring money. Step 2: Collect integrity verdict responses : Perform integrity checks at important moments to start collecting verdict data, without enforcement initially. That way you can analyze the responses for your install base and see how they correlate with your existing abuse signals and historical abuse data. Step 3: Decide on your enforcement strategy : Decide on your enforcement strategy based on your analysis of the responses and what you are trying to protect. For example, you could change risky traffic at important moments to protect sensitive functionality. The API offers a range of responses so you can implement a tiered enforcement strategy based on the trust level you give to each combination of responses. Step 4: Gradually rollout enforcement and support your users: Gradually roll out enforcement. Have a retry strategy when verdicts have issues or are unavailable and be prepared to support good users who have issues. The new Play in-app remediation prompts, described below, make it easier than ever to get users with issues back to a good state. NEW: Let Play recover users with issues automatically Deciding how to respond to different integrity signals can be complex, you need to handle various integrity responses and API error codes (like network issues or outdated Play services). We’re simplifying this with new Play in-app remediation prompts . You can show a Google Play prompt to your users to automatically fix a wide range of issues directly within your app. This reduces integration complexity, ensures a consistent user interface, and helps get more users back to a good state. GET_INTEGRITY automatically detects the issue (in this example, a network error) and resolves it. You can trigger the GET_INTEGRITY dialog, available in Play Integrity API library version 1.5.0+, after a range of issues to automatically guide the user through the necessary fixes including: Unauthorized access: GET_INTEGRITY guides the user back to a Play licensed response in accountDetails . Code tampering: GET_INTEGRITY guides the user back to a Play recognized response in appIntegrity . Device integrity issues: GET_INTEGRITY guides the user on how to get back to the MEETS_DEVICE_INTEGRITY state in deviceIntegrity . Remediable error codes: GET_INTEGRITY resolves remediable API errors, such as prompting the user to fix network connectivity or update Google Play Services. We also offer specialized dialogs including GET_STRONG_INTEGRITY (which works like GET_INTEGRITY while also getting the user back to the MEETS_STRONG_INTEGRITY state with no known malware issues in the playProtectVerdict ), GET_LICENSED (which gets the user back to a Play licensed and Play recognized state), and CLOSE_UNKNOWN_ACCESS_RISK and CLOSE_ALL_ACCESS_RISK (which prompt the user to close potentially risky apps). Choose modern integrity solutions In addition to Play Integrity API, Google offers several other features to consider as part of your overall anti-abuse strategy . Both Play Integrity API and Play’s automatic protection offer user experience and developer benefits for safeguarding app distribution. We encourage existing apps to migrate to these modern integrity solutions instead of using the legacy Play licensing library . Automatic protection: Prevent unauthorized access with Google Play’s automatic protection and ensure users continue getting your official app updates. Turn it on and Google Play will automatically add an installer check to your app’s code, with no developer integration work required. If your protected app is redistributed or shared through another channel, then the user will be prompted to get your app from Google Play. Eligible Play developers also have access to Play’s advanced anti-tamper protection, which uses obfuscation and runtime checks to make it harder and costlier for attackers to modify and redistribute protected apps. Android platform key attestation: Play Integrity API is the recommended way to benefit from hardware-backed Android platform key attestation . Play Integrity API takes care of the underlying implementation across the device ecosystem, Play automatically mitigates key-related issues and outages, and you can use the API to detect other threats. Developers who directly implement key attestation instead of relying on Play Integrity API should prepare for the upcoming Android Platform root certificate rotation in February 2026 to avoid disruption (developers using Play Integrity API do not need to take any action). Firebase App Check : Developers using Firebase can use Firebase App Check to receive an app and device integrity verdict powered by Play Integrity API on certified Android devices, along with responses from other platform attestation providers. To detect all other threats and use other Play features, integrate Play Integrity API directly. reCAPTCHA Enterprise : Enterprise customers looking for a complete fraud and bot management solution can purchase reCAPTCHA Enterprise for mobile. reCAPTCHA Enterprise uses some of Play Integrity API’s anti-abuse signals, and combines them with reCAPTCHA signals out of the box. Safeguard your business today With a strong foundation in hardware-backed security and new automated remediation dialogs simplifying integration, the Play Integrity API is an essential tool for protecting your growth. Get started with the Play Integrity API documentation .
A decade after that first pitch meeting at Rovio, the fully realized vision: how top studios use analytics to reduce decision latency and see truth before competitors even react.
Posted by Karan Jhavar - Product Manager, Android Frameworks, Dan Brown - Product Manager, Google Play, and Eric Brenner - Software Engineer, Google Play A great user experience is built on a foundation of strong technical performance. We are committed to helping you create stable, responsive, and efficient apps that users love. Excessive battery drain is top of mind for your users, and together, we are taking significant steps to help you build more power-efficient apps. Earlier this year, we introduced a new beta metric in Android vitals, excessive partial wake locks , to help you identify and address sources of battery drain. This initial beta metric was co-developed in close collaboration with Samsung , combining their deep, real-world insights into user experience with battery consumption with Android's platform data. We want to thank you for providing invaluable feedback during the beta period. Powered by your input and our continued collaboration with Samsung, we have further refined the algorithm to be even more accurate and representative. We are excited to announce that this refined metric is now generally available as a new core vitals metric to all developers in Android vitals. We have defined a bad behavior threshold for excessive wake locks. Starting March 1, 2026, if your title does not meet this quality threshold, we may exclude the title from prominent discovery surfaces such as recommendations. In some cases, we may display a warning on your store listing to indicate to users that your app may cause excessive battery drain. GOOGLE PLAY'S CORE TECHNICAL QUALITY METRICS To maximize visibility on Google Play, keep your app below the bad behavior thresholds for these metrics. User-perceived crash rate The percentage of daily active users who experienced at least one crash that is likely to have been noticeable User-perceived ANR rate The percentage of daily active users who experienced at least one ANR that is likely to have been noticeable Excessive battery usage The percentage of watch face sessions where battery usage exceeds 4.44% per hour New: Excessive partial wake locks The percentage of user sessions where cumulative, non-exempt wake lock usage exceeds 2 hours Excessive partial wake locks newly join the technical quality bars that Play expects all titles to maintain for a great user experience This is the first in a series of new metrics designed to provide deeper insight into your app's resource utilization, enabling you to improve the experience for your users across the entire Android ecosystem. 1. Aligning our definition of excessive wake locks with user expectations Apps can hold wake locks to prevent the user's device from entering sleep mode, letting the apps perform background work while the screen is off. We consider a user session excessive if it holds more than 2 cumulative hours of non-exempt wake locks in a 24 hour period. These excessive sessions are a heavy contributor to battery drain. A wake lock is exempted if it is a system held wake lock that offers clear user benefits that cannot be further optimized, such as audio playback or user-initiated data transfer. The bad behaviour threshold is crossed when 5% of an app’s user sessions over the last 28 days are excessive. If your app exceeds this threshold, you will be alerted directly on your Android vitals overview page . You can read more information about our definition on the Android Developer pages . Android vitals will alert you to excessive wake lock issues and provide a table of wake lock tags to P90/ P99 duration to help you identify the source by wake lock name. To help you understand your app’s partial wake lock usage, we are enhancing the excessive partial wake locks page in Android vitals with a new wake lock names table. This table breaks down wake lock sessions by their specific tag names and durations, allowing you to easily identify long wake locks in your local development environment, like Android Studio, for easier debugging. You should investigate any wake locks with P90 or P99 durations above 60 minutes. 2. Excessive wake locks and their impact on Google Play visibility If your title exceeds the bad behavior threshold for excessive wake locks, it may be ineligible for some discovery surfaces where users find new apps and games. In some cases, we may also show a warning on your store listing to inform users that your app may cause their device's battery to drain faster. Users may see a warning on your store listing if your app exceeds the bad behavior threshold. Note: The exact text and design are subject to change. We know making technical changes to your app’s code and how it works can be time consuming, so we are making the metric available for you to diagnose and fix potential issues now, with time before the Store visibility changes begin, starting from March 1, 2026. 3. What to do next We encourage you to take the following steps to ensure your app delivers a great experience for users: Visit Android vitals : Review your app's performance on the new excessive partial wake locks metric. The metric is now visible to all developers whose apps have wake lock sessions. Discover excessive partial wake locks : Use the new wake lock names table to identify excessive partial wake locks. Consult the documentation: For detailed guidance on best practices and fixing common issues, please check out our technical blog post , technical video and updated developer documentation on wake locks . Thank you for your continued partnership in building high-quality, performant experiences that users can rely on every day.
Supercell went all-in on Squad Busters with Hollywood talent, no soft launch, and a $150M budget. It didn't work out. Here's why it still mattered.
Game development is evolving from logic to life. Through world models, Pim De Witte is building a future where virtual worlds learn, react, and feel alive.
Posted by Paul Feng, VP of Product Management, Google Play Last month, we shared new updates showcasing our evolving vision for Google Play : a place where people can discover the content and experiences they love and where you can build and grow sustainable businesses. Our commitment to your success is at the heart of our continued investments. Today, we're excited to introduce a new bundle of tools and programs designed to enhance your productivity and accelerate your growth. From simplifying technical integration and localization, to offering deeper insights and creating powerful new ways to engage your audience these features will help streamline your development lifecycle. Watch our latest updates in The Android Show segment below or continue reading. You can also catch up on our latest Android developments by watching the full show . Streamline your development and operations with new tools We're launching new tools to remove friction from your tedious development tasks by helping you validate deep links and scale to new markets with Gemini-powered AI. Simplify deep link validation with a built-in emulator Troubleshooting deep links can be complex and time-consuming so we’re excited to launch a new, streamlined experience that allows you to instantly validate your deep links directly within Play Console . This means you can use a built-in emulator to test a deep link and immediately see the expected user experience on the spot, just as if someone clicked the URL on a real device. Instantly validate your deep links using the new built-in emulator Reach a global audience with Gemini-powered localization We’re making it easier to bring your app or game to a global audience by simplifying localization. With our latest translation service, we've integrated the power of Gemini into Play Console to offer high-quality translations for your app strings, at no cost. This service automatically translates new app bundles into your selected languages, accelerating your title to new markets. Most importantly, you always remain in full control with the ability to preview the translated app with a built-in emulator and easily edit or disable translations. Drive growth and engagement with AI-powered insights and You tab We're launching new ways to help you reach and retain users, Including AI-powered insights and the new You tab for re-engagement. Get faster insights with automated chart summaries To help you spend less time interpreting data and more time acting on key insights, a new Gemini-powered feature on the Statistics page automatically generates descriptions of your charts. These summaries help you quickly understand key trends and events that might be affecting your metrics. For developers who use a screen reader, this feature also provides access to reporting in a way you haven't had before. Get faster insights with new Gemini-powered chart summaries Access objective-related metrics and actionable advice for audience growth Earlier this year, we launched objective-based overview pages in Play Console to consolidate your key metrics, app performance, and actionable steps across essential workflows. With dedicated pages for Test & Release, Monitor & Improve, and Monetize with Play already live, we're excited to announce the full completion of this toolkit. The new Grow users overview page is now available, giving you a comprehensive, tailored view to help you acquire new users and expand your reach. Track your key audience growth metrics on the new "Grow users" overview page Boost re-engagement with the You tab Last month, we launched You tab, a brand new, personalized destination on the Play Store. This is where users can discover and re-engage with content from their favorite apps and games with curated rewards, subscriptions, recommendations, and updates all in one place. App developers can take advantage of this personalized destination by integrating with Engage SDK . This integration allows you to help people pick up right where they left off—like resuming a movie or playlist— or get personalized recommendations, all while seamlessly guiding them back into your app. Game developers can use this surface to showcase timely in-game events, content updates, and special offers, making it easy for players to jump right back into the action. Promotional content, YouTube video listings, and Play Points coupons are now open to all game developers for creating a rich presence on the You tab. The availability of these powerful re-engagement tools is part of our broader commitment to game quality through the new Google Play Games Level Up program. Learn more about the program's guidelines here . Showcase in-game events and offers on the new You tab Optimize your monetization strategy and track performance We're launching powerful new ways to configure your one-time products and track the full impact of your Play Points promotions with a new, consolidated reporting page. Simplify catalog management for one-time products Earlier this year, we introduced more flexible ways to configure one-time purchases . You can now offer your in-app products as limited-time rentals, and sign up for our early access program to get started with pre-orders. We've also launched a new taxonomy, building on our existing subscription model, to help you manage your catalog more efficiently. This new model unlocks significant flexibility to help you reach a wider audience and cater to different user preferences by letting you offer the same item in multiple ways. For example, you can sell an item in one country and rent it in another—helping Play better surface relevant offerings to users. Explore these new capabilities today in Play Console . Manage your catalog more efficiently with new ways to configure one-time products Understand the impact and performance of Play Points promotions With Play Points recently opened to all eligible titles, you can now better understand the impact of your promotions. The new Play Points page in Play Console lets you see the total revenue, buyers and acquisitions that all Play Points promotions have generated. This reporting covers both your developer-created offers, as well as new reporting for Google-funded Play Points promotions, which includes direct and post-promotion performance metrics . New reporting for Play Points promotions The features announced today are more than just updates; they are the building blocks of a powerful growth engine for your business. We hope you start exploring these new capabilities today and continue sharing feedback so we can build the tools you need to build a thriving, sustainable business on Google Play.
Posted by Robbie McLachlan - Developer Marketing At Google Play, we’re committed to helping businesses of all sizes reach their full potential. That’s why we’re excited to open submissions for our new Google Play Apps Accelerator . If you’re an early-stage app company ready to scale, this program is designed for you. Selected companies from over 60+ eligible countries will join a 12-week accelerator starting in March 2026. The program combines 1-1 mentorship from Google and industry experts with a curriculum focused on growing your app business on Google Play. Sessions will cover: Build: We'll cover the journey from a prototype to a scalable, high-quality app - focusing on the tools and best practices for longevity. Grow: So you've launched. Now what? Waiting for users to show up isn't the best strategy. We'll dive into what really works for growth. You'll get the playbook on go-to-market strategy, user acquisition, and LiveOps that turns downloads into a user community. Earn: Want to build a smart monetization strategy? We'll focus on revenue models that build value and drive sustainable growth for your business. Lead: You've mastered your product, but what about your people? Your role as a founder is evolving. We’ll give you leadership insights to hire the right people, grow their skills, and build a thriving culture. You’ll also get the chance to meet and connect with other founders from around the world who are looking to take their apps to the next level. All submissions must be completed by January 7, 2026, @ 11:59 PM GMT. Check out our terms and conditions for more information. Apply now to supercharge your growth on Google Play.
Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen calls out EU regulators over the Digital Fairness Act, warning that new laws could cripple Europe’s $27B gaming industry. Is Brussels protecting consumers or killing its own innovation engine?
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