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Correcting A Broken Google Play Games Installation on Nvidia Shield TV with accounts using Google Suite

Some time ago I had some kind of error or corruption with my Google Play Games on my Nvidia Shield TV console. I am also a Google Suite (GSuite) subscriber which adds additional constraints. Any time I chose to log into google games the system would log in but then the game could not detect the log in. It was odd and I knew the issue was probably a local error. As it turns out there are a lot of hidden secrets that you need to check / setup before it all works. And any games you've played so far will probably lose their unsynced data.

First this guide has a couple pre-requisites:

  1. Nvidia Shield TV. This guide is updated for version 6.2
  2. A google account using GSuite. As a sanity check make sure you can log into your Admin Console. And also make sure the user account on the Nvidia console can log into email or YouTube. Web or mobile is fine. Make sure to accept any licenses / activation requests.
  3. A google+ account. Google Play Games is linked to G+ (in an ambiguous not at all clear way). Make sure you can log into your G+ account. Web or mobile is fine. Make sure to accept and licenses / activation requests.
  4. In the Admin console make sure that any Google Play, Google Games and Google+ services are enabled for the domain and for the user.
  5. You must disabled Mobile Management from Device Management / Setup.
  6. FYI: despite the link to google plus, there is no google plus account and therefore no way/need to clear or uninstall/reinstall the google plus app from the Nvidia console.

With those out of the way here's how I fixed it:

Steps to fix the error:

  1. From Settings/Apps force stop, clear data and remove any game that will not work from Settings->Apps. Yes you will lose your progress.
  2. From Settings/Apps force stop, remove any updates and clear data for the Download Manager from Settings->Apps. Make sure the app is enabled.
  3. From Settings/Apps force stop, remove any updates and clear data for the Google Play Games from Settings->Apps. Make sure the app is enabled.
  4. From Settings/Apps force stop, remove any updates and clear data for the Google Play Services from Settings->Apps. Make sure the app is enabled.
  5. From Settings/Apps force stop, remove any updates and clear data for the Google Play Store from Settings->Apps. Make sure the app is enabled.
  6. Remove the game(s) authorization from plus.google.com/apps
  7. Remove google account from Settings/Accounts. This seems to be a fairly safe and unobtrusive operation.
  8. Restart your Android TV.
  9. Add your account back in from Settings/Accounts. Accept any license / activation requests.
  10. Open Google Play Store app and accept any agreements. Update all apps from the store (not all things mentioned above will be here).
  11. Open Google Play Games app and accept any agreements.
  12. Manually sync account from Settings/Account/account name/Sync Now.
  13. Install a game or games back onto the console.
  14. Open the game. Accept any permissions requests.
  15. Try to log in. You may be forced to update Google Play Services. You may have to log in a couple of times.
  16. Try to log in again, this time you may be met with more than one account option. The second worked for me. The first did not successfully log in. When performing this operation don't choose the option to make this permanent. If you have success exit the game, log in with the working option and make the operation permanent.
  17. You should be in business at this point. Games will log in and stay logged in. Your settings, achievements, etc will automatically be saved to the Google Play Games cloud.

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