Feature Graphic (Google Play) is the required 1024×500-pixel banner on a Google Play listing, used as the cover image for the preview video and in large-format collections across the store, including ads.
Google Play will not publish a store listing without a feature graphic. Play Console accepts a JPEG or 24-bit PNG with no alpha channel at 1024 by 500 pixels. Google names three main placements: the cover image for your preview video, when you have one, with a play button on top; collections of apps shown in a large format, including ads; and, for games, large-format groups of recommended games alongside preview videos and screenshots. The App Store had no equivalent until Apple announced product page header images and videos for iOS 27, which it still lists as coming this fall.
Because the graphic may sit under a play button or inside a busy collection, it has to carry one idea at a glance. Google's guidance is specific: keep the focal point toward the center so cropping doesn't cut it, favor vivid color over pure white, black or dark gray that blends into the store background, localize any text and add alt text. It also rules out words such as "Best", "#1", "Free" and "Sale". The feature graphic is one of three assets a default graphics experiment can test, alongside the icon and screenshots, which makes it a practical early candidate for a store listing experiment.
Example
A language-learning app replaces a feature graphic crowded with five feature call-outs with a single centered scene of a traveler reading a menu and a five-word headline. It tests the two versions in a store listing experiment and makes the cleaner one the default only if it wins.