All signs indicate Google Gaming Console ad at GDC

Normally, Google who shows up at the Game Developers Conference is not a big deal. The company does this almost every year – Android smartphones and Google Play are, after all, a fairly large gaming platform – and that's reflected in live feeds, blog posts, and all the usual festivities. This year, however, is different. Since last month, Google is sending vague teasers for a GDC event, but as the date approaches, the company is issuing more and more clues as to what exactly it announces: Google launches hardware for video game for the Project Stream platform.

A new YouTube video for the event released today invites people to "come together to unveil Google's vision for the future of GDC19 game." Google recently completed the beta "Project Stream", which streamed a full version of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey Internet to any desktop version of Chrome. A platform for streaming games is certainly a vision of the future of the game, but it is still only a software.

Google Hardware

There are two major proofs that there is an announcement of material. First, Google is a highly compartmentalized company and the person promoting this event on Twitter is none other than Risk Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of hardware. Osterloh is the origin of the division that brought us the Pixel phone, Google Home and all other Google hardware products. His involvement is a strong sign that yes, new materials are coming.

We will talk about the future of the game! You can watch it live on 19/3 at 10:00 am (Paris time) → https://t.co/L7tIKMW7HF

– Rick Osterloh (@rosterloh) March 12, 2019

The second big proof is that Google also hosts a warning page on store.google.com. The Google Store. Google Equipment The shop. Google could host a teaser page in one of its thousands of subdomains, but for some mysterious reason, he chose the Google Store. The "Google Store" does not sell software, it would be "Google Play". Google Store sells only hardware, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and Google Home speakers. Soon, apparently, he will sell video game equipment.

According to a report from The Information (subscription required), Google's gaming material would have been codenamed "Yeti" and has been in development at Google for more than three years. We can only guess what Google's gaming material might look like. In 2014, the company co-designed Google's Nexus Reader with Asus, a simple combination of smartphone components in a disk-shaped case, a TV remote control and a generic game controller Xbox style. This device was primarily an Android TV box, but a streaming game console might look like this.

There was also this Google patent of a generic looking game controller, which made the news of the series the other day. The patent involved sending notifications to the controller, which could be interesting, and the drawings show hardware buttons Android-y – home, menu and microphone – presumably for Google voice commands. The controller also played the role of authentication token by storing user information such as your Google Account and your settings, and using a combination of buttons as the password. This patent dates from 2014, so it's hard to know if it's relevant. Companies patent every idea they have, and random patents are not necessarily indicative of future projects.

Another option is simply to use Google Chromecast. The Yeti Report from Information indicated that a "first version" of Project Stream was originally working on Google's existing streaming key, to which a controller was associated. At the time, we did not know that it was possible to associate a controller with a Chromecast because the devices did not support Bluetooth or any other way to connect a controller. A few months later, a third generation Chromecast started appearing in stores, racing – do not you know – Bluetooth. To our knowledge, the Bluetooth support for the new Chromecast is not officially explained. So maybe Rick Osterloh will be on stage at the GDC, brandish a game controller and say, "Anyone who has purchased a Chromecast in the last six months now has the Google Game Console." Mic drop, get out of the scene on the right.

Google Infrastructure

Many companies have already tried streaming streaming, including Sony with PlayStation Now and Nvidia with Geforce Now. Microsoft launches into the game with "Project Xcloud", which is powered by literal Xboxes acting as blade servers. However, Sony and Microsoft need to protect traditional console companies, and Nvidia wants to sell graphics cards. Google is the only newcomer in the field of video games to have no existing business to protect.

Although Google is not a power of play, it is a central Internet infrastructure. This could be useful for a streaming game streaming service, which is heavily dependent on network performance and video streaming around the world. Of course, Google manages some of the most popular sites on the web, including Google.com and YouTube, the latter being one of the biggest users of bandwidth on the Internet. The pioneering work in Google's data centers is one of the main reasons why a site like YouTube can afford to exist. Google has constantly worked to make the Web cheaper, faster and less latent. Today, the company is involved in virtually every aspect of the Internet, from browsers to Internet service providers, through protocols and the backbone. If Google really wants to invest in the streaming of games with low latency, it can bring a lot.

Google … Games?

Having a streaming hardware and platform is good, but no matter if you have no game to play. A Kotaku report released in the middle of last year indicated that Google was pursuing "aggressive recruitment or even major acquisitions" in the video game industry in order to create a library for its gaming platform.

Chances are that former Xbox and PlayStation leader Phil Harrison was involved in these negotiations when Google hired him in early 2018. Another big hiring came from the start of the year. to be announced recently: Google has dismantled the former executive of Ubisoft and EA Jade Raymond. Raymond will be vice president of an undisclosed division of Google. It seems like she's not allowed to talk about it now.

Google's press conference will take place on March 19th at 10:00 am in the Pacific Region. There will be a live stream here.