Last weekend the internet went into a minor conniption fit over a leak of a patent from Google, which showed a design and technical information for a new controller, which all but confirmed that the tech giant is developing a gaming console. This patent was accompanied by four poorly made renders that attempted to bring to life illustrations used in the patent as examples of what the company was building.

While the renders were indeed fan-made mock-up’s, the patent itself was completely genuine; however, forum lurkers from across the world wide web decided to collectively trash the controller design, as well as the poor quality of the accompanying images.

These always insightful keyboard warriors engaged in a stunning display of borg-like group think, and within minutes, the collective wisdom was that the Google’s game console controller resembled the ill-fated Android-based console, the Ouya.

Even the gaming industry’s greatest reporter, Jason Schreier, chimed in to verify that the rendered images were indeed horrid, that they were not produced by Google, and that the patent was originally filed in 2014 – completely glossing over the fact that the patent was refiled with the United States Patent Office as recently as January of 2019.

It's amazing how many people I've seen sharing and commenting on this "Google controller" – it's not real! Someone mocked up these images based on Google patents from 2014. Patents are misleading and rarely reflect reality (remember this? https://t.co/ArBT1b6jFN) https://t.co/cCEzGyDOni

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 10, 2019

Then came the public relations spin from the self-appointed defenders of the status quo: the fanboy’s, who claimed that a Google game console had very little chance of succeeding, and that the particular brand for which they were championing would suffer no ill-effects from Google’s advent into the gaming sphere.

We can’t blame those folks for downplaying the significance of Google’s patent, and the implications of what their pending March 19th announcement means to the industry as a whole. Change is not an easy thing to accept, and many of the voices within the opinionated digital chorus have not yet had the chance to witness a profound shift in a market, such as the one we are about to witness. This has allowed many to form a strange emotional attachment to certain companies, and any threat to the established order of gaming somehow represents a threat to them.

But, like or not, the change in the industry that NerdBacon was first to tell you about last year is now upon us.

Google is here, and those that are downplaying their arrival are being completely short-sighted. Just as the industry forever changed at the beginning of the 21st century, when Microsoft bought in to the metaphorical poker table that is the gaming industry, so too will the industry change as Google buys their way in today.

So why is the Google game console’s imminent arrival so important, and what aces do they have up their sleeve that could ensure their success against their soon-to-be rivals? their soon-to-be rivals: Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony?

Th first card they have is the immensity of the company’s assets and resources. Simply put: Google is loaded with money.

According to CNBC,  as of January of this year Google is ranked as the third most valuable company in the entire world, with a total worth (as of January) of $748 billion. The only two companies ahead of it are Amazon, who is also planning on entering the gaming industry before the end of 2020, and Microsoft. In fourth place is another company that should be familiar to anyone who has been following our work, as they are are also planning an entry into the video game industry: Apple.

While vast amounts of wealth does not automatically mean that Google will have a serious impact in the gaming market, it’s still an important factor in determining their success. Their wealth means they can spend liberally on technological R&D, marketing, attracting exclusive content, and hiring important figures in the industry. In other words, Google can easily repeat what Microsoft did almost 20 years ago.

This leads us to our next point: Google is attracting top talent.

Last year it was announced that the company had hired long-time Sony veteran Richard Marks to help spearhead the development of their gaming technology. Marks had previously lent his expertise to Sony beginning in 1999, and was responsible for a number of key hardware engineering contributions, including the development of an innovative camera accessory for the PlayStation 2 called the Eye Toy, as well as Sony’s motion control peripheral, the PlayStation Move. However, Marks’ most important work however was as one of the creators for PlayStation VR.

As NerdBacon reported last year, Marks was not alone in joining Google:

“Long time industry veteran Phil Harrison, who was instrumental to the success of the PlayStation brand when it launched in 1995, as well as having served as an executive for Microsoft, joined [Google] in January of this year. Google has also acquired Jack Buser, who was the head of PlayStation Home, as well as the man who helped create Xbox Live Arcade, Greg Canessa.”

Google’s high-profile hiring spree didn’t end last year.

Just this week, gaming luminary Jade Raymond, one of the shinning lights who helped turn the Assassin’s Creed series into one of gaming’s pillar franchises, announced that she had been hired as a Vice President at Google. While details of her role have not been announced, Raymond’s gaming pedigree undoubtedly means she will be instrumental in leading the company’s charge into the industry.

The bottom line is that Google has assembled a prolific team with years of experience in creating and launching products that have fundamentally changed the industry.

These resources also means that they have the means to entice third-party developers into creating exclusive content for a Google game console. We have already seen that Ubisoft is willing to work with the tech giant, through their participation in the test run of Google’s game streaming service: Project Stream.

For those unfamiliar, Project Stream allows users to stream full triple-A gaming experiences, to any device using the company’s Chrome web browser. Ubisoft provided testers the ability to play the latest entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, as part of the technology’s trial late last year.

Bandai Namco also publicly tweeted out a tease suggesting they will support the device, and Google’s big unveiling event on March 19th will be populated with industry heavy hitters like ID Software and Crystal Dynamics. So the natural assumption is that all of these studios will be providing content for Google’s game console.

There are also rumors that Sega is working on exclusive content for Google as well.

The combination of Google’s resources, the talent assembled, and the potential for compelling software partners are already enough to put the company in a great position for success; however, the real potential for their new system is in how the tech giant can integrate their vast ecosystem into the gaming experience.

In our original report regarding the patent for the controller, we noted that the document made reference to a chat button located in-between the two analogue sticks. According to the patent, the controller has the ability to alert the player of an incoming chat request.

While we don’t know for sure what this chat functionality entails, there is a possibility that there is a microphone built in to the controller or the system itself, which would allow players to seamlessly chat with their friends without the need for a headset. Google could easily achieve this by built-in compatibility with Google Hangouts. This type of integration would not only alleviate the need to purchase an additional headset (and possibly camera) in order to communicate with players – it would also eliminate the need to sign up for a separate service like Discord in order to interact with your friends. It’s all just built in.

We also imagined another scenario for built-in chat functionality:

“Built in voice functions, along with seamless integration with Google’s Chrome web browser, could lead to some intriguing possibilities. Imagine being able to communicate with friends online without the need for a headset. Or, what if you were stuck in a particular area of a game and you could utilize the voice functionality of the system to bring up an online walk-through of the game on a picture-in-picture screen in Chrome – all without having to actually leave the game you’re playing?”

Friends lists for a Google game console could also be managed through an extension in Chrome. Players could get notified that their friends are online and ready to play through a message in Chrome, whether the recipient is using the web browser on PC or on their mobile device.

The experience could be pushed further through Project Stream.

What if you’re away from home, but working from your PC. You see the notification that your friends are online pop up in Chrome – as a Project Stream subscriber, you can jump in and join them wherever you are, with all of your saved data carried over thanks to cloud storage.

Starting to get the picture?

Google could also incorporate Google Maps into the experience, and any built in camera/mic combo will absolutely mean that there will be built in functionality with YouTube.

The point is – unlike other companies, Google does not have to build any additional applications, or make any additional purchases to create a fully social gaming platform. They already have all of this at their disposal.

Finally, Google has something even more important at their disposal than the numerous points that I’ve already outlined – they have an an invaluable mind-share with the general public.

Much like their rival Apple, the invocation of Google’s name brings to mind products that are sleek, sophisticated, and cutting edge. It’s a brand image that transcends the singular focus of the gaming industry, and provides an almost instant credibility to any product that the company launches that companies like Nintendo and Sony don’t inherently have outside of hard-core gaming enthusiasts.

While there are plenty of positive factors working in favor of success for a Google game console, the company still has more than one proverbial Everest to climb.

Waiting for them at the summit of gaming’s mountain is a field of established players that have been circling their virtual wagons to ‘survive together’; not to mention the impending arrival of the two remaining titans in Amazon and Apple throughout the next year.

As the industry prepares to shift into its next age, success will be determined not just by content, but by infrastructure and the ability to adapt to the coming metamorphoses to an all-digital/streaming age.

The facts are clear: Google is a serious threat to the status quo of the industry.

As I’ve said many times before: You will not recognize the gaming landscape by the end of 2019.

The titans are here. The great pole shift of our time has begun.