Android and iOS users can now hash out their differences on digital battlefields as Google announced Monday that Google Play Game services will expand to include multiplayer cross-platform play.

"Further enhancing Google Play Game services, we're expanding multiplayer to support iOS, bringing turn-based and real-time multiplayer capabilities to both Android and iOS," Greg Hartrell from the Google Play Games team wrote on the Android Developers blog.

"To further help with cross platform game development, we're updating our Play Games Unity Plug-in to support cross-platform multiplayer services, and introducing an early Play Games C++ SDK to support achievements and leaderboards."

Google is also launching a revamped version of Play Game statistics for developers, providing the back-end with visual dashboard showing player and engagement statistics such as retention, signed in users, and leaderboard performance.

Google's announcement comes as the annual Game Developers Conference kicks off in San Francisco March 17.

Gamers will also now be able to send game gifts, virtual in-game items, to anybody in their circle or through player search.

Google isn't the only tech giant looking to expand its gaming services in the mobile market. A recent job posting since taken down revealed that Microsoft is on the move to offer more Xbox Live gaming services across the mobile market.

"We will create a modern framework that is open-source, lightweight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS, and Android," read the job listing.

Microsoft's sentiment echoes Google's: the time has come to begin integrating into mobile ecosystems outside your own.

Google already has a strong foothold in the mobile market: Android took away the market share crowns in both the smartphone and tablet categories in 2013 and the Google Play store boasts over 1 million apps. Most popular mobile devices from manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony, and LG run Android and Google's own apps are a staple on most phones and tablets, Android or not. Google's approach here is to integrate Android into other ecosystems such as iOS and, possibly in the future, Windows Phone.

Microsoft, on the other hand, faces an uphill battle. The Windows Phone operating system has failed to catch on as hoped, and it shows. Microsoft is beginning to ease up on regulations, leading to some manufacturers opting to produce dual-OS Windows and Android phones.

"Microsoft has eased the regulations and is opening up its platform for other players. We signed the agreement two days ago and will launch a range of Windows phones in about three months," Karbonn Mobile chairman Sudhir Hasija told The Times of India in early March.

The dual-OS Windows and Android devices, however, seem to rub both Microsoft and Google the wrong way.

Microsoft has even opened up its popular Office suite to Android developers, in hopes of drawing some Android users to its own cloud.

"This week, we're announcing the availability of the Android SDK for Office 365 and Windows 8 Libraries, which allows for easier and more streamlined development using the above-mentioned Office 365 APIs, including Files, Lists, Mail and Calendars," Microsoft wrote on its Office blog March 3.

There are even rumors floating around that Microsoft is interested in allowing Android apps to run on its Windows platforms in order to give its paltry app store a much-needed infusion.

Apple doesn't seem as keen as Microsoft and Google to slowly assimilate itself in other brands, but there are signs that the industry is beginning to slowly, but surely, head that way.