Google ‘Yeti’ Game Streaming Service Announcement Set For GDC 2019

Google has sent out invites to an event happening at the annual Game Developers Conference or GDC. The event will be on March 19 at 10am PST, and the focus of the keynote is expected to be the unveiling of all the details on Google's game streaming service. Rumors suggest that Google is working on a subscription-based streaming service that could be distributed via a Chromecast device or a console made directly by Google.

Google's invite gives up no detail about the topic of the event, it's simply a bright light at the end of the hallway with the tagline "Gather around." Google has been working hard recently in gathering up engineers for its in-house chip design, hiring talent away from Qualcomm, Intel, and NVIDIA; these engineers could be to help with its game hardware design and development. Google did test the Project Stream service allowing gamers to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey inside the Chrome browser. Word is that the streaming service is codenamed "Yeti" and rumors suggest that Google is looking at a streaming service paired with hardware.

Google needs games for its service, and the assumption is games will need to be designed specifically for the streaming platform. Google is tipped to attempt to woo game developers to its platform aggressively. Along with the GDC keynote, Google is also hosting a pair of themed sessions at GDC with one on March 18 focusing on mobile game development and Google Play.

March 20 is the second date focusing on cloud development. Google certainly won't be alone stepping into the game streaming market, assuming that's what it announces at GDC. There will be stiff competition in the game streaming realm with NVIDIA launching its own streaming service; Sony, Microsoft, and Amazon are trying to get in on the action as well.