Google has for the past 2 years been developing a game streaming service that would work over Chromecast or a Google-developed game console, according to a report by The Information.
”Netflix for games”
The project is reportedly codenamed “Yeti” and is a game streaming service similar to Sony’s PlayStation Now, which is sometimes called “Netflix for games”. You pay a monthly subscription fee to gain access to a library of games that can be streamed from a server. Nvidia offers a similar service called Geforce Now.
The Information says that the game streaming service will be delivered either via Google’s Chromecast or a newly-developed game console that Google has been experimenting with. The company considered launching the service in late 2017.
Today, developers can release games for Android-based smartphones, tablets, and TVs. This approach has proven very successful on handheld devices but not very successful on the big screen. Apple has taken a similar approach but Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony still have a firm grip on the market for TV gaming.
A booming market
The market for video games is more than twice the size of the movie industry and far larger than the music industry. Video game sales generate over $100 billion of revenue per year.
In charge of the project are two hardware executives; Mario Queiroz, VP of product management, and Majd Bakar, VP of engineering. The company also recently hired Phil Harrison who spent 15 years at Sony PlayStation and 3 years at Microsoft Xbox.
The game streaming service has reportedly been in development for 2 years. Google has not commented publicly on its plans.
- Source: The Information
