In the gaming world, PC and console digital storefronts often have avenues for advertising upcoming games – and in many cases, you can go ahead and pre-order a downloadable game. Now Google is starting to take steps in that direction for Android apps.
Google now offers the ability to “pre-register” for an upcoming app or game via the Play Store, which essentially amounts to declaring your interest in the release. You’ll receive a notification when the app is available to download, letting you be among the first to grab it.
The first app in question is actually a licensed game: Terminator Genisys: Revolution from Glu. It’s a cover-based third-person shooter that looks a lot like last year’s Robocop reboot tie-in game, albeit with a bit more visual flash.
It’s a free game, so there’s no money changing hands, and there’s no commitment: you can unregister at any point. At this point, all you’re signing up for is a release alert, but we can imagine more advanced options down the line. For example, it’d be ideal if the app automatically downloaded once available, or if you could even pre-load the content and have it unlock at the right time.
For now, though, it’s just a painless process and a notification, although Google hasn’t yet started advertising this feature; if you didn’t search for Terminator Genisys, you probably wouldn’t know that pre-registration was possible. But hopefully this will lead to better discovery features in time – and not just for big developers and name brands, either.
Source: Android and Me