Google officially confirmed Monday that they are entering the gaming space.

The company has announced a new streaming service, currently known as Project Stream, via a post on their Keyword blog.

“Streaming media has transformed the way we consume music and video, making it easy to instantly access your favorite content. It’s a technically complex process that has come a long way in a few short years, but the next technical frontier for streaming will be much more demanding than video.

We’ve been working on Project Stream, a technical test to solve some of the biggest challenges of streaming. For this test, we’re going to push the limits with one of the most demanding applications for streaming—a blockbuster video game.”

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey will serve as the test bed for Google’s Project Stream.

Project Stream will allow players to stream big budget, triple A titles directly to their Chrome internet browser. No other high end PC components would be needed other than an internet connection with at least 25Mbps download speed.

Google plans to launch a test of the new service later this week and has partnered with Ubisoft, who will provide their latest in the Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, as the test case for Project Stream. Ubisoft’s selection as Google’s partner for Project Stream sheds a new perspective on CEO Yves Guillemot’s recent comments on streaming being the future of gaming, as well as the next generation of consoles being the last.

“There will be one more console generation and then after that, we will be streaming, all of us.”

The blog post goes on to explain that Google believes that Project Stream will provide the solution to the problem of streaming a high-quality title, without the delay normally associated with sending and receiving information through the internet.

Thanks to our sources, NerdBacon was the first outlet to bring you the news that Google was planning to enter the gaming market, and has repeatedly reiterated that a number of gaming companies were already making moves to counter this significant development.

Now that Google has placed their metaphorical flag in the ground, all eyes will now turn towards Apple, who is expected to make a similar move into the gaming space within the next year. It will also be interesting to see how the major console manufactures counter Google’s official arrival into the gaming space.

As we already reported, Nintendo is currently working on an upgraded version of the Nintendo Switch, which we are referring to as the Switch Pro, although we don’t expect an announcement from the company until early 2019.

Microsoft last week announced that they will be holding a massive fan event known as X018 in Mexico City in November. This would provide a perfect opportunity for them to give fans a taste of their next generation plans, which will also include a streaming service.

One thing is certainly clear – the announcement of Project Stream marks a huge turning point for the video game industry, and it will be fascinating to see how each company positions itself as we move into 2019.

Written by The Watchman

The Watchman is a journeyman gamer who has seen and played a good chunk of gaming history.
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