Google Play Pass has finally debuted in India – more than two years after its send-off in the US. The subscription-based paid service brings to access to apps and games on Android, without ads and in-app purchases. Google offers Play Pass to consumers in monthly and yearly subscription options, through which they get access to a list of apps and games. The service rivals Apple Arcade that provides a similar ad-free experience on a range of games available specifically for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and Apple TV.
On Monday, Google announced that Play Pass will be rolled out to Android devices in India this week. The service offers an arranged assortment of more than 1,000 titles across 41 categories from developers across 59 nations.
Play Pass also includes 15 titles from Indian developers regardless. These include games such as Jungle Adventures from Rendered Ideas and World Cricket Battle 2 from Creative Monkey Games.
Google said that it would keep on working with worldwide and nearby designers to add new games and applications to Play Pass consistently. Developers have also been provided with a dedicated webpage from where they can nominate their titles for the service.
How to get Google Play Pass in India
Users can get Play Pass in India with a one-month trial and subscribe to it at Rs. 99 a month or Rs. 889 a year. The service is also available as a prepaid one-month subscription at Rs. 109. Further, users who have a Google family group can share their Play Pass subscription with up to five other family members.
When Play Pass is rolled out, you can begin its free trial by opening the Play Store on your Android devices, tapping on the profile symbol from the upper right corner, and afterward choosing the Play Pass choice.
It is important to note that Play Pass works with devices that are running on at least Android 4.4 and have Google Play app to version 16.6.25.
Subscribers see the dedicated Play Pass tab on Google Play for quickly accessing the collection of apps and games available through the paid service. The Play Pass ‘ticket’ also appears on the app listings when browsing titles on the Play store.
Google’s answer to Apple Arcade
introduced in the US back in September 2019, Google Play Pass is planned as Google’s solution to Apple Arcade that works along these lines.
“With the launch of Play Pass in India, we are excited to offer a robust collection of unlocked titles to our users and looking forward to partnering with more local developers to build amazing experiences users love,” said Aditya Swamy, Director, Play Partnerships, Google India, in a prepared statement.
While Play Pass gives the add-free experience on various well-known applications and games, there are still a large number of titles available on Google Play that require users to have individual subscriptions and in-app purchases.
Play Pass offers a chance to small-scale developers to get global exposure as the service is currently available in 90 countries across the world. However, the exact number of Play Pass subscribers has not yet been revealed by Google.
India is the second biggest market for application downloads after China, as per application expert firm Data.ai (previously known as App Annie). The nation is also one of the fastest developing business sectors for applications all over the world. Nevertheless, it does not come in the list of top-20 mobile markets when it comes to consumer spending on apps.
A new report by Data.ai shows that China, US, and Japan were the most ruling business sectors for application purchaser spend, with the US saw a 30 percent year-on-year development of $43 billion (generally Rs. 3,25,300 crore) in 2021.
Google did not answer on what made it bring the Play Pass service to India after over two years of its launch in the US.
