Mobile games have a (somewhat deserved) reputation for being low quality and generally unable to compete with the complexity of console or PC games, but Google has just made it a little easier for mobile Android developers to offer more powerful gaming experiences on the Play Store by doubling the maximum file size allowed for Android application packages (APKs). Play Store APKs can now be 100MB in size, up from 50MB, and developers still have the option of supporting additional data from up to two 2GB expansion files.

“Smartphones are powerful devices that can support diverse tasks from graphically intensive games to helping people get work done from anywhere,” Google Product Manager Kobi Glick wrote in a blog post. “We understand that developers are challenged with delivering a delightful user experience that maximizes the hardware of the device, while also ensuring that their users can download, install, and open the app as quickly as possible. It’s a tough balance to strike, especially when you’re targeting diverse global audiences.

“To support the growing number of developers who are building richer apps and games on Google Play, we are increasing the APK file size limit to 100MB from 50MB. … We hope that, in certain circumstances, this file size increase is useful and enables you to build higher quality apps and games that users love.”

Glick notes that just because developers can create bigger APKs now does not mean that they should. Developers should still consider other limitations that could affect their users, including slow or intermittent mobile data connectivity, mobile data caps, limitations on hardware performance, and long install times.

Doubling the file size limitation will certainly allow for more complex mobile games to be released on the Play Store, but even with the extra 4GB from expansion files, Play Store games are still incredibly small compared to most modern non-mobile games. For example, the recently announced install size for Fallout 4 on Xbox One made headlines for being “only” 28GB, which is still a several times larger than the biggest Play Store games.

Still, as phones become more and more powerful, the gap between mobile and non-mobile software will continue to shrink, and one day there may be little difference between the two.

Photo by keith.bellvay