Gaming forums have always been the best place to engage with the community. However, many of the legacy forums no longer exist, particularly given the prevalence of platforms like Discord and Reddit. It now looks like Google wants to get in on some of the action, too, courtesy of the Play Store.
Thanks to details gathered over the past few months, Android Authority has found extensive evidence of an upcoming community forum within the Play Store, potentially targeting Google Play Games users. The site has now unpacked version 47.4.31-31 of the Google Play Store to activate the dormant “Your contributions” option at the bottom of the Manage apps & device page. This is undoubtedly a key component of the gaming forum, and screenshots provide some insight into where Google intends to position this in the Play Store.
Google has been working on this for quite some time
Tapping “Your contributions” takes users to a page with three additional options, all of which carry placeholder text. However, the corresponding icons offer a hint of what they do, while tapping each option takes users to their dedicated pages named Likes, Comments, and Posts. As Android Authority’s report reveals, Google has also assigned at least three placeholder URLs for the community forum, although none of them are live right now:
https://support.google.com/googleplay?p=games-community-forum-content-policies
https://support.google.com/googleplay?p=games-community-forum-post
https://support.google.com/googleplay?p=games-community-forum-reactions
The first info about Google Play’s community forum reportedly dropped in April, with strings painting a decent picture of Google’s intentions. As you can see below, they don’t leave much to the imagination:
You’re posting publicly across Google Play. Please follow our community guidelines.
To remove a reaction, tap the reaction icon again.
Reactions are used across Google, including Google Play
Participate in this community with a different account
Add a comment
Discard your post?
Add an optional note
Avoid personal details
Your post was deleted
Your reply was deleted
The post was flagged as inappropriate
The post was flagged as spam
The reply was flagged as inappropriate
The reply was flagged as spam
Your post is too short. Try to be more descriptive.
Posting…
This was followed up by some more strings uncovered by Android Authority in June, providing a clearer idea of the community forum’s functionalities, including privacy notes and guidelines that members would have to follow:
Posts may appear publicly with your Google Account name and photo. Posts must follow Google policies.
You can delete your post anytime and view all your posts in %1$s.
Remember to keep your posts and comments respectful and to follow our %2$s.
How your posts appear
Your Contributions
Your Community
Although some of this community forum’s features appear to be live (at least visually), we don’t know when they will be officially announced. Google is understandably tight-lipped on this matter, so all we can do is wait. It’s also unclear what Google plans to call this gaming forum, although we suspect it won’t be far off from Google Play Games Community Forum, as speculated by Android Authority.
With the publication’s latest revelation, it’s clear that Google is moving forward with its plan for a gaming-oriented community forum on the Play Store. Having access to a dedicated forum directly within the app hub does make some sense, though it would be a tough sell for people who are already on Discord servers or other online communities.
Would you be interested in the Play Store doubling as a gaming forum?
