Google to Hold Game Console Announcement at GDC
Google has been sending out teasers since last month for a GDC event, where the company is expected to launch video game hardware for the Project Stream platform.
A new YouTube video for the event posted today asks people to "Gather around as we unveil Google’s vision for the future of gaming at GDC19." The video begins with a series of gamey-looking corridors leading to a glowing exit before you rocket into the glow at hyper speeds. Cut to black, followed by a date, the tag line “Gather around” and Google’s “G”.
Google's press conference is March 19 at 10am Pacific.
Google has already finished the "Project Stream" beta test, which streamed a full version of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey from the internet to any desktop version of Chrome.
Google's event is promoted on Twitter by Risk Osterloh, Google's Senior Vice President of Hardware. Osterloh was leading the division that brought us the Pixel phone, Google Home, and other Google hardware products.
Google is also hosting a teaser page on store.google.com, which sells hardware.
A recent Google patent described a generic-looking game controller, which involved pushing notifications to the controller, along with a microphone—presumably for Google voice commands.
Google’s new VP is Jade Raymond. Raymond was a Producer for The Sims Online for Electronic Arts. She is best known for her work at Ubisoft where she was the Producer or Executive Producer of Assassins’ Creed, Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines, Splinter Cell: Don’t be surprised if Raymond makes an appearance onstage at Google’s GDC show.
Many companies have tried game streaming in the past, most notably Sony with the PlayStation Now and Nvidia with Geforce Now. Microsoft is jumping into the game with "Project Xcloud."