Ever since Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo became established as the “big three” of the video game console space, there has been little else to challenge them. The Ouya was a bust. Steamboxes went nowhere. The Atari VCS…uh, well see I guess, but I’m not holding my breath. But now there are rumblings that none other than Google might want to take them on.
Given that the video game industry is larger than the movie and music industry combined by quite a large margin, it stands to reason that any number of megacorps might want to get in on the action. We’ve heard rumors about Apple and Amazon trying to get in on the action for ages, and now Google is back in the mix.
The report comes from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, who discusses the industry whispers that Google is planning some sort of streaming-based gaming play in the near future. The report includes three main points, first that it’s focused on streaming, second that there is some kind of hardware involved, third that it involves Google recruiting developers to get on board for the project, possibly acquiring some outright. The streaming platform is codenamed “Yeti.”
Google has been pursuing gaming in one form or another for a good long while now, but nothing has ever actually come to fruition. With the next generation of consoles rather unclear at present (so far only Microsoft has indicated another Xbox is coming, though surely PS5 will follow), it might be time for Google to break into the scene with something of its own.
And yet, anyone who hears the phrase “streaming-based” when it comes to video games is rightly skeptical. While a neat concept in theory, as it offloads the need for high-end hardware, the execution for something like this would have to be perfect. It’s one thing if your Netflix or Hulu fitzes when streaming for a moment, but in a video game, that can be the difference between life or death. Latency issues are a huge potential problem for something like this, and have killed past would-be competitors like OnLive already. Granted, Google is more suited to build something like this out than most, but quality is not the only concern.
The other issue is accessibility. While sure, a system like this would be great for those with easy access to reliable, high-speed, cap-less internet, there is an entire world of crappy internet out there and crappy ISPs that install crappy bandwidth caps that would be positively eaten alive by something like this. Many players have already struggled with the new “most games must be connected to online” system in the current console gen, but when you add in the complication of a game needing to constantly be streaming, that’s another level entirely, and those with lower quality internet would be out in the cold.
I also can’t quite figure out the actual hook of this. Unless this hardware was really cheap, why would anyone choose it over an Xbox, PlayStation or Switch? Is Google going to immediately amass a stable of must-have exclusive games for this new system? That seems rather unlikely. And past that, no one seems terribly dissatisfied with the current state of disc-based/download-based gaming, and I just don’t think anyone is asking for a streaming-based gaming service, even though that’s where TV and movies have moved. Gaming is an entirely different realm, and this feels like big tech looking for an answer without a question. Not to say that streaming couldn’t work someday, but right now, I don’t think you can answer the fundamental question about the concept. Why is this better than what we have now? If we can get to a place where we’re paying $12 a month to stream every AAA release perfectly from a $40 Google box, sure, I get it. But if that’s not the case (and it certainly won’t be), I’m not sure I understand the appeal here.
Again, we don’t know enough to fully judge what Google is planning, but it’s hard not to be skeptical of any streaming-based gaming idea at this point, even from Google. Especially from Google, actually, given how often they tend to abandon projects. We’ll see how this develops in time.
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