Can I play games with Genymotion?

Yes, it is possible to install and play games with our Genymotion products, but there are some considerations to be taken into account.

This article will guide you to get the best result with minimal hassle.

1. Most games are only available for ARM and ARM64

This means that the result will differ depending on the product and system you use.

Genymotion Desktop

PC (Windows/Linux) & old Apple Mac

On PC (Windows/Linux) and old Apple Mac series (non M1/M2), Genymotion Desktop virtual devices architecture is x86 (32bit) and x86_64 (64bit), therefore it cannot run games compiled for ARM "out of the box". As a result, many games will not appear or install in Google Play Store and installing them from an APK will fail.

To workaround this, you can try installing the ARM translation tools by following this tutorial from Genymotion Desktop on-line user guide. However, the result is not guaranteed.

Apple Mac M1 & M2

Support for the Mac M1 & M2 series has been introduced with Genymotion Desktop 3.4.0 with a native arm64 Android 10 image. This means that, if you are using a mac M1 or M2, you will not need to install any ARM translation tools: you can install your game directly from Google Play Store (see chapter 2.)!

Genymotion SaaS (Cloud)

Genymotion SaaS Cloud virtual devices architecture is x86 (32bit) and x86_64 (64bit): most games will not appear or install in Google Play Store and installing them from an APK will usually fail.

Like Genymotion Desktop on PC (Windows/Linux), you will need to install ARM translation tools. For detailed instructions, you can refer to Genymotion SaaS on-line use guide.

Genymotion Device Image

We offer ARM64 images for AWS: these images run on ARM64 serversand they can run Games "out of the box", without the use of ARM translation tools. They also support arm64 apps and games.

For more details, please refer to Genymotion Device image user guide

2. Google Play Store and services are not preinstalled

You need to install the Open Gapps package to get Google Play Store. We have made our best to make the installation as simple as possible: you will find all the detailed step at How to install Google Play Store (and other Google Apps) in Genymotion?

3. There are no gaming specific enhancements

Genymotion does not offer any gaming enhancement features, such as macros, keyboard mapping or Bluetooth support for controllers yet. If you wish to help us implement such features, feel free to open a discussion at our Github public discussion board.

4. Some multiplayer and co-op games will not work with Genymotion

Genymotion virtual devices are rooted and, unfortunately, some co-op and multi-player games detect root and emulation which make them incompatible with Genymotion. We can not guarantee that Genymotion will work with a given game for the moment.