Sounds like Google might be getting into gaming

That's according to Kotaku. It sounds like they're pushing hard to get into game streaming with something like GeForce Now, and, hey, they probably have enough computers around to make that work.

Over the past few months, the wildest rumors in video game industry circles haven’t involved the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Two. The most interesting chatter has centered on a tech company that’s been quietly making moves to tackle video games in a big way: Google, the conglomerate that operates our email, our internet browsers, and much more.

We haven’t heard many specifics about Google’s video game plans, but what we have heard is that it’s a three-pronged approach: 1) Some sort of streaming platform, 2) some sort of hardware, and 3) an attempt to bring game developers under the Google umbrella, whether through aggressive recruiting or even major acquisitions. That’s the word from five people who have either been briefed on Google’s plans or heard about them secondhand.

I definitely think a bit more competition in the gaming space is good but I'm not sure what Google will really bring to the table that isn't already covered by other people. I've tried GeForce Now and while it's nice to play high-quality video games on my crappy laptop, the input lag is definitely noticeable in an FPS like Prey, so I really can't see people flocking to play COD on a streaming service. But as the article points out, Google's got data centers all over the world and theoretically could offer lower pings than almost anyone else. We'll see!

My first reaction to this was the same as when I heard Microsoft was making a console: "What? Yeah, no. Never gonna happen." But obviously I was super wrong, so I guess I'm interested to see what comes of this.

Still waiting for Amazon's first game after their big push 4 years ago, will this be any different?

I don't think streaming games to a little box at home is going to work out so well even now, not until everyone has gigabit connections and ISP's stop being complete shitbags.

And I mean actually everyone, not your group of friends in the suburb near a big city.

Hmm....I'm not sure I like this. Streaming gaming, while arguably the future, isn't there yet until the average internet gets a lot better than it is. If you have Google Fiber, yeah, it could work. Everyone else is pretty near SOL, so the idea of studios being acquired to put games under a Google umbrella is concerning. Hell, Google Fiber isn't even available most places. Selling a service e.g. "hey, subscribe to Google games!" and then being fundamentally stiff-armed by the very same company's limited penetration into the provider space is a potentially very shitty thing.

@justin258: Your not completely wrong, having good internet connections will obviously become a factor. But I don't think it is the "only" factor. Remember to the average game consumer who plays a game on a console they don't need it to be 4K 60FPS perfect top tier PC quality graphics while streaming. If they can hit the minimums to the console generations we are in and depending on the game, streaming a game over the cloud with simply an "okay" internet connection is probably doable.

Especially when you start to factor in, now these devs and publishers are making these games with streaming them to you in mind. The types of experiences they are making are going to be considerate of different internet qualities. And as both the quality of peoples internet and the tech making games and streaming it to you goes up, gets cheaper, it's an inevitably that we will all be streaming everything unless something comes in to halt the progress being made. Big, billion dollar companies like Google and Microsoft don't take bets on this stuff like this without some sort of evidence.

I'm not saying there still won't be lumps on the way, I'm sure there will. Hell if it goes the course it's going, it could be till 2040 before we the conversation of streaming games to any device isn't followed up by a platitude of different user experience simply due to the quality of the net/games they were playing. Especially considering how buggy games can be, does the game have MP or other components etc. But given enough years to work through all that, as with everything else....hardware will probably become obsolete at some point I imagine. Or novelty/collector things. Nintendo might be the smartest bet on how that space is feasible going forward marketing home consoles as toys with pre built in catalogs with their retro-mini editions.

Could very much see the eventuality of your either connected, at which point you don't need a console, or your using something that is entirely offline with a catalog of games on it already at purchase that is meant for the home TV use.

@devise22: Ugh, such a gaming future sounds like the fucking worst. I already don't like how connected gaming has become.

But beyond my personal tastes, average Joe can't really tell a difference in framerate and resolution but I think responsiveness is a different matter, especially considering the popularity of games like Fortnite and Siege and even Call of Duty, which is still a huge game. They may not know what it's called or how to talk about it, but they can feel it when their Xbox accepts inputs seemingly instantly and their streaming box takes half a second to start turning the camera around.

I'd be curious to see what they might bring to the table, even if I'm skeptical about a streaming-focused approach. If nothing else, another viable source of funding for new/different AAA titles is something I'd welcome.

this is the thing. aside from the heavy hitters (essentially the gsuite- gmail, drive, calendar, etc.) google has a terrible record of launching initiatives, duplicating the functionality across other initiatives, and then unceremoniously abandoning everything as if it never happened.

don't get me wrong- when it comes to the services they provide, they're usually best-in-class. i say this as 2-year project fi customer- best phone plan i've ever had, but i know i'm on borrowed time until they get bored with being a mobile provider and close shop. just look at their various messaging platforms- to call it a 'mess' is a profound compliment.

anyway- i'd eagerly check out what (if anything) this new foray into gaming ends up being. but they're about the LAST company i'd expect to be in it for the long-haul, and i'd therefore have a really hard time being convinced to invest in hardware or a service.

You've got it all wrong, they'll launch a gaming service and then after a year, another service will pretty much replace it, while the previous one still exists, then in another year they'll do the same, then 2 years later they will kill all of them off for another new service that nobody uses.

Classic Google.

I think video game companies would love nothing more than to control all aspects of the player's experience and streaming fits nicely with that vision although they're waiting for most people to have gigabit Ethernet before they pull that trigger.

So yet another platform I’ll have to have if I want to play certain games? Already expensive enough having all 3 consoles and a PC.

Playstation is the only healthy division of Sony. If Google comes out swinging (and they have the endless money to do so), Sony better be ready.

"OK Google".

But yeah as many mentioned streaming / SAAS / IAAS/ might be the future for videogames internetspeeds are way out there. It's okay if i have to wait 0,5 seconds for my email to load. It's not okay to wait 0,5 second in a videogame cause your having a "bad internet" day. And with ISP's pushing for Non net neutrality, it's only gonna get worse, unless you buy our "gaming package " free steam downloads and better connection times when playing games......

Sony's semiconductor business makes a huge amount of profit for them as well.

Still not interested

@devise22:If I remember right the average internet in the US is 18Mbps. That's only good enough for 720p 60fps. It might not even be good enough for 1080p 30fps(I think 1080p 60 is feasible at 25Mbps). That's heavily compressed 720p also.

Imo, streaming can be a good alternative for gaming on the go. But compressed 720p video is gonna look like ass on a giant 4k screen. We're not there yet and with the way internet providers are dragging their feet building infastructure we're not gonna get there for a while.

Hard pass probably...

I'm just afraid they would go for super commercial stuff and will cause for companies who have more passion about good games to go through some financially difficult times