It looks as though Google is set to join the console market, as the tech giant is said to be releasing a new games console, as well as a game streaming service.
The company has apparently been looking into this for a while, and the streaming service has a codename – ‘Yeti’ – while it’s in development, reports GamesRadar.
In terms of the new games console, it looks as though it’s coming under the ‘Made By Google’ umbrella.
The leaked info was unearthed by The Information with help from their sources.
According to said sources, the game streaming service will be subscription-funded as well as cloud-based. That means it will run an instance of the game on a Google-operated server and then transmit the data to your home console.
Obviously, this is different to Microsoft’s Xbox Games Pass approach, which allows you to download in full any of the games on the service.
In terms of the console, ex-Xbox and PlayStation exec Phil Harrison was hired by Google last month, which would fit in well with the narrative.
It’s not the first time the idea of a streaming-only console has come up this year.
Microsoft let it slip back at E3 that we can be expecting multiple Xbox consoles in the future, and the rumour mill has been in overdrive ever since the news dropped.
We’ve learned that the new projects are apparently going under the codename of ‘Scarlett,’ and now it seems one of them might be purely for streaming games.
Sounds like Microsoft have more than a few ideas under their belt for the Xbox brand!
According to Thurrott: “Microsoft is building a traditional console that you would expect from the Xbox brand,” but there’s also rumblings around the second device, which is claimed to be: “A streaming box that is designed to work with the company’s game streaming platform.”
As for the “traditional console,” the leaker of the info admits that there’s no new details on the specs as it’s in such an early stage of development, but it is suggested that this console is for those: “who prefer to have all their hardware locally.”
The second console is where a lot of the attention is at the moment though, with the source claiming that it will be: “a lower-powered device that is currently planned to ship with the next generation device [and] is designed for game-streaming.
“But the catch here is that Microsoft thinks it has figured out how to handle the latency sensitive aspects of gaming.
“The cloud console will have a limited amount of compute locally for specific tasks like controller input, image processing, and importantly, collision detection.
“The downside of this is that it since more hardware is needed locally, it will raise the price of the streaming box but it will still cost significantly less than what we are accustomed to paying for a new-generation console which should help expand the platform’s reach.”
Apparently dubbed the ‘Scarlett Cloud,’ the source adds: “all Scarlett games will run on all Scarlett devices. Meaning, both consoles will be first-class citizens and there is not expected to be an awkward ‘this game only runs on the non-cloud Scarlett’.”
Check out the leak in full – what do you think about a streaming-only console?