IssueTracker

I'm implementing player authentication/authorization using Google Play Games Services (PGS).

I can't understand the logic behind how getSignInAccount().getCurrentPlayer().getPlayerId() and the https://games.googleapis.com/games/v1/applications/1234567890/verify endpoint return player IDs.

Back in the days of Google+, the player ID used to look like this: 108285279772291107829

Then it was replaced by an ID in this format: g03481650751922197270

Now it has been replaced by the Next Generation Player ID, which looks like this: a_5034779217109402983

For most players, the last format is returned both on the client side via getPlayerId() and from the Google backend via the /verify endpoint.

However, there are situations where, on any version of Android and with any version of Play Games Services, the client receives an ID in the old format (108285279772291107829, from the Google+ era) via getPlayerId(). At the same time, the Google backend returns an ID in the format g03481650751922197270 for the same client when using their server auth token. This happens even with a new app that was created just yesterday, although this behavior is observed for this user across different apps.

What's going on here? Is there a way to get the same ID locally on the client and via the /verify request?