Android 13 significantly reduces game load times

In the Android 12 system, Google has introduced some new features for mobile gamers and developers to take the Android gaming experience to a new level, such as a new game mode API that allows developers to customize the game according to the user.

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The selected performance profile optimizes their games for maximum performance or better battery life. Now there’s news that Android 13 is continuing its push to improve mobile gaming and will add some new features.

As reported by Esper, Android 13 adds a new feature to the GameManager API called setGameState that allows games to communicate their current state to the system. This enables the game to communicate its top-level state and indicate whether it can be interrupted. 

Also, games can use setGameState to tell the system if the game is loading assets/resources/compiling, etc. The system can then send a load time hint to the power HAL to activate the new GAME_LOADING mode and improve CPU performance. 

However, when GAME_LOADING mode is activated, it is up to the OEM to specify the CPU performance tuning they want to perform. In theory, this means that games can load faster. Many Android OEMs have implemented various optimizations, such as allocating more CPU and GPU resources, to improve game loading.

Esper reports that Google is considering adding a test to the Vendor Test Suite (VTS) to enforce GAME_LOADING mode on all devices using Android 13 and later. However, it is unclear whether this requirement has been finalized.

(VIA)