Google is bringing Gemini Live to Android gaming with Play Games Sidekick. Billed as a coach, it’s meant to be a “helpful in-game overlay available while playing games downloaded from Play.”
In supported games, you’ll see a new handle that can be dragged to either side of the screen or dismissed (and accessed from notifications).
This overlays a panel, which supports both landscape and portrait orientation, with a link to your profile and Play Points. Next is a grid to take a screenshot, screen recording, stream to YouTube, and enable Do Not Disturb.
Then there’s a prominent “Start Gemini Live” button that launches the assistant and starts sharing your screen. Inline controls let you mute the microphone and end. You can ask anything about the game, with Gemini fully aware of the context. The idea is to get help without having to leave the game to do a web search for walkthroughs or other tutorials. You get “in-game guidance with verbal tips, tricks, and support.”
The context was perfect when Google demoed Sidekick with “The Battle of Polytopia” for us.
Google Play worked with the Google DeepMind team, with the latter first demoing AI agents for games last December. Gemini “can reason about the game based solely on the action on the screen.”
Meanwhile, “Game Tips” in Sidekick is powered by AI and “based on your gameplay.” There are also carousels for Achievements (which you can browse), Streaks, Quests, Coupons (Play Points), Play Credit (which is redeemable inline), and Boosts.
Google will start letting users try Play Games Sidekick with Gemini Live in “select games over the coming months.”
Google is starting a new “Level Up” program for game developers where they get various benefits by supporting the latest platform features. Sidekick is one of those capabilities with a July 2026 deadline for support. (Another example is adding cloud save and seamless restore by November of 2026.)
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Source link
