Does anybody still play games on Google+? If you do, Google’s got some bad news.

Google announced at Google I/O that it’s shutting down Google+ Games on June 30. Now, it doesn’t mean that the games on Google+ will cease to exist. They’ll just cease to exist on Google+. As such, Google recommends that players get in touch with the developers of their favorite games to find out where their favorite games will be hosted after June 30.

Why is Google shutting down Google+ Games? The short answer is Google Play game services. It’s a rich set of APIs that allow game developers to offer a googlified game experience across Android, iOS and the Web. The games even have built in Google+ support for matchmaking and other services so those who still play games with friends on Google+ will be able to continue to do so on the new service.

Google Play game services may be making Google+ Games redundant, but it’s probably not the only reason for the closure. Around this time last year, Google+ Games lost two major developers – Wooga and PopCap. Both developers said that they were removing their games from the service after finding that the player base on Google+ wasn’t worth their time. There haven’t been reports of any major developers leaving Google+ Games since then, but it might have been a sign of things to come as Google itself apparently feels the player base on Google+ isn’t worth supporting.

So, what happens to the players who have invested hundreds of hours, and maybe even hundreds of dollars, into Google+ Games? Google says that “some games will be migrating data to an alternative destination where you can continue to use your unused payments.” You’re going to have to contact the developer of your favorite games to find out all the details though.

[h/t: Engadget]