Internet overlord Google might be getting into the gaming scene via some sort of streaming service and accompanying hardware, according to a report from Kotaku.
The company has allegedly reached out to a number of major developers with the hopes of working with them on the streaming platform which is apparently codenamed Yeti. Kotaku reports that the service would “offload the work of rendering graphics to beefy computers elsewhere”, which is the principal other companies like Nvidia are using in the same space, allowing those with shitty PCs to play high-end games.
The report also details heavy integration with YouTube, which could be used, for example, to switch quickly and easily between a game and a video walkthrough. While we don’t know what form it would eventually take, Google is also said to be working on hardware that would tie in with the streaming platform.
Of course, Google hasn’t responded to the claims just yet, but some of its recent hires certainly make a lot more sense in light of Yeti. Industry heavyweights from EA, PlayStation and Xbox have all already been hired by the company.
With Sony and Microsoft looking towards their next sets of respective hardware, they could be facing some competition from those looking to bring game streaming to the forefront. As I’ve said before, it’s going to be a hard sell for a little while yet, particularly for folks like us here in Australia with subpar internet connections. But hey, if anyone’s gonna do it well, it’s probably Google.
I’m certainly intrigued to see what form Yeti eventually takes, if any.
