At their annual I/O developers conference, Google announced updates to its Cast software development kit (SDK) that will make it better for game developers to create mobile games for TVs.
Similar to Apple‘s Airplay, Google Cast allows content such as movies and music to be played back from a smartphone, tablet, or laptop onto a TV through a receiving device like Google’s Chromecast.
With the new updates, developers will not only be able to stream mobile games to TVs, but will also be able to create multiplayer games with synchronized gameplay across a large number of players using new Cast Game Manager application program interfaces (API).
With just a $40 Chromecast device, smartphones can be used as personal game controllers with motion sensors as well as second-screen displays with new Cast Remote Display APIs. Add in the fact that Google Cast can be used for any Android, Chrome, or iOS app, and Google appears to slowly muscling in on the console space.
