Google Play will tighten performance requirements for games and apps
The reasons for this include the crisis in the memory market and Google's overall desire to enhance the quality of projects distributed in its mobile store.
Google announced that it is introducing threshold values for dynamic memory consumption by games and apps, as well as for memory usage for raster images. The exact size of these values depends on several factors, including the users' device configurations.
The corporation has also asked developers to optimize DEX code. Specifically, it wants optimization, code reduction, and obfuscation metrics to be at least 25%. As Google emphasized, with these measures, games and applications will work faster and crash less frequently.
Soon, Google plans to add additional diagnostic tools to the Play Console, which will help developers understand what exactly needs to be done with their projects.
The new requirements in Google Play will take effect in February 2027. According to Google, it does not intend to remove non-compliant games and apps from the store, but there will be some sanctions. In particular, projects may face reduced visibility in Google Play and restrictions on publication.