Creating games entirely on Android!

Godot has moved the Android editor past its biggest limitation: exporting Android binaries without a desktop. After non-Gradle exports landed in Godot 4.4, projects that needed Gradle customizations or plugins like Google Play Billing and AdMob still required a PC. That gap is now closed with GABE, the Godot Android Build Environment.

GABE is a companion app for the Android editor and XR devices. It runs in the background when you trigger a Gradle export, downloads and manages build dependencies, and keeps working after the first permission grant. In practical terms, it lets you generate APKs and AABs directly on-device instead of shuttling projects back to a desktop just to package them.

This matters most for developers targeting mobile stores or XR platforms. If your build depends on vendor plugins, billing, ads, or other Gradle-based customization, you can now keep the whole loop on the device you’re using to develop. Godot specifically calls out support for Android devices and XR headsets, including Quest/Android XR, with an experimental PicoOS build also mentioned.

The release is now marked stable and available through the Play Store, Horizon Store, and GitHub release page. For small teams and solo devs, this removes a real workflow tax; for XR work especially, it means you can iterate, export, and deploy without constantly round-tripping through a desktop machine.