Build games for Android Automotive OS

The Games category is in beta

At this time, anyone can publish games to internal testing tracks on the Play Store. Publishing to closed testing, open testing, and production tracks will be permitted at a later date.

Nominate yourself to be an early access partner →

There is one additional technical requirement to build games for Android Automotive OS beyond those described in Build parked apps for Android Automotive OS.

Important: Make sure your game meets the quality guidelines for games, as it is reviewed against them when submitted to tracks other than internal testing.

Mark your app as a game

To indicate that your app is a game, you must add the android:appCategory="game" attribute to the <application> element of your manifest.

<manifest ...>
    ...
    <application
      ...
      android:appCategory="game"
      ...
      >
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

Declare support for game controllers (optional)

If your app supports controller input, include the following manifest declaration for the android.hardware.gamepad feature, as OEMs can use this information to improve the user experience:

<application ...>
  ...
  <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.gamepad" android:required="false"/>
  ...
</application>

Caution: Be careful not to set the android:required value to true, as not all vehicles have this feature present even if they can pair with a controller.