This guide describes how to use the anti-piracy feature to secure your Android games.
How the anti-piracy feature works
The anti-piracy feature is available for Android games only. If anti-piracy
is turned on for your game, the Games service checks if a user is licensed to
play your game. If none of the user accounts on a device are licensed for your
game, the Google Play games services calls sent by your game will fail and return a
LICENSE_CHECK_FAILED status code.
To be licensed for your game, users must install it from Google Play. The license checking takes place regardless of whether your game is a free or paid app. The checking is only performed if the game is published. Users with test accounts can play the game without purchasing it.
Enabling anti-piracy
To turn on the anti-piracy feature for your Android game:
- Follow the steps described in Set Up Your Game to add your Android game to the Google Play Console, if you have not done so already.
- In the Google Play Console, open the Games services tab, then select your Android game from the list.
- Open the Linked apps tab, then select your existing Android game or link to a new Android game.
- Turn the Enable anti-piracy option to ON.
- Click Save and continue.
- Publish your game in order for license checking to be activated.