Maximizing Game Performance and Experience with the Samsung Galaxy Ecosystem
Md. Armaan Ul Islam
Engineer, Samsung Developer Program
The mobile gaming industry is predicted to reach over $85 billion in revenue in 2020, and seems likely to reach the $100B milestone soon. Samsung, the market leader in the smartphone industry, is committed to providing both the best developer and user experience in the world of mobile gaming. In this article, I’ll discuss the services that game developers and gamers in the Galaxy ecosystem are empowered with.
Services for game developers
GPUWatch
In the competitive world of mobile gaming, game developers have to avail a better experience to gamers while maintaining device temperature, frame rate, and power consumption. This leads to the necessity of a real-time device profiling tool. Samsung offers game developers real-time detailed device profiling information right on the device screen! This tool is called GPUWatch.
GPUWatch is a tool for observing GPU/CPU activity and frame details of the application availing the develper deep insights with minimal effort.
Get more details here, GPUWatch.
Adaptive Performance
Mobile devices are growing more powerful day by day. But, limitations still exist when you consider the intense graphics and gameplay. Utilizing device resources (CPU/GPU) at an intense level produces massive heat which results in thermal throttling, thus producing a drop in frame rate. Samsung offers the developer insight into the heat/temperature status with Adaptive Performance.
Adaptive Performance provides a way to manage game performance based on its thermal condition on a mobile device. It allows the developer to fetch heat level data and adjust game resources accordingly, thus enabling the developer to manage game resources to maintain seamless performance.
Adaptive Performance comes as a plugin for the popular game engine, Unity. Further reading can be found here, Adaptive Performance.
Galaxy Performance SDK
Resource management has become a significant task for the operating system of mobile devices. To deliver a smooth experience to consumers, device systems constantly restrict third-party games or applications from using device resources like CPU/GPU. On the other hand, applications or games require adequate resources while performing intensive operations or gameplay. To resolve this conflict, system/OS and applications require a way to communicate with each other and to negotiate device resources.
Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Performance SDK to establish the bridge between system and the games/applications. Game developers can utilize the Galaxy Performance SDK to request device resources for the moments of intensive or costly operations to ensure a seamless experience. It allows games to request the system for dedicated CPU/GPU/BUS resources for a period of time. Developers can also register the ‘Event-Listeners’ to get notified on resources becoming limited or available.
The Galaxy Performance SDK comes as an Android library (.jar) with guides and a sample application. For more, see Galaxy Performance SDK.
Game Optimizing Service
The Game Optimization Service resides on Galaxy devices and can be used by gamers and developers. The service performs basic optimizations to improve game performance (for example, maintaining frame rate). There are no requirements to use this service. Apps categorized as “game” in Galaxy Store benefit from the basic optimization in the background.
Galaxy GameDev
Samsung has game developers across the globe covered with a team of experts, the Galaxy GameDev team. Engineers of Samsung’s Galaxy GameDev team empower game developers to provide the best gaming experiences on Galaxy devices as well as on the Android platform. From game engines to GPU drivers, from SDKs to on-site tech support, the Galaxy GameDev team covers it all. Partner up with the Galaxy GameDev team to grow with the Galaxy ecosystem.
Read the Galaxy GameDev Overview.
Galaxy Store Games page
Done with your game development? Check out all the essentials to bring your game to Galaxy Store from the Galaxy Store Games page. You’ll find information about adding an app review link, in-app purchases, marketing resources, and store performance metrics in this hub designed for developers.
Services for gamers
Gaming Hub
Gaming Hub is a gamers' home on Galaxy devices, the all-in-one hub for gamers in the Galaxy ecosystem. From organizing your games to offering personalized suggestions, from live leaderboards to keeping you updated with the trends, every corner is taken care of for you by Gaming Hub.
Gaming Hub offers a peek into your gaming statistics, along with the option to share with your friends. At the same time, you can also check out what your friends are playing as well as what the world is playing. And with the Discord overlay, you can connect to gamer communities right on Gaming Hub. It also comes with the feature, Instant Plays, where you can enjoy a wide variety of casual games without having to install them.
Gaming Hub is preloaded on Galaxy devices and is also available to download/update from Galaxy Store.
Find out more about Gaming Hub.
Game Plugins
Gamers in the Galaxy ecosystem get a handful of useful services under the umbrella of game plugins. Game Plugins are available on Galaxy Store:
Daily Limits: Manage gaming time limits to ensure an effective day.
Game clock: Reminder service for games.
Gif Creator: Allows you to create Gif images in your gameplay.
Perf Z: Overlays the basic resource occupancy data onto the screen in real-time.
Game Booster Plus: Advanced performance customization service. It allows the user to control every fine detail to tune the gaming experience in terms of graphics quality, frame rate, CPU/GPU allocation, and power consumption. Along with custom controls there’s also automated game boosting options.
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See Game Plugins for more information.
Feel free to share your thoughts with us and with the global game developer community on the Samsung Game Development forum.
