There have been rumors for quite some time that Google is planning on entering the AAA video game market and it seems like that time might be pretty soon as they have recently announced ‘’Project Stream’’.
The Project Stream is basically a streaming service that allows you to play modern games in Chrome browser without the need for extensive graphics hardware or video game console. If Google actually succeeds then this could really disrupt the market of console manufacturers. This is exactly what we are going to talk about today so without any further ado let’s get started.
Google has released a beta version of their Project Stream and some subscribers have got the invitation to try it out. They have released Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to test out the service which basically runs or streams at 1080p 60 FPS.
This all looks and sounds really good and could potentially be a game changer. But what exactly is Google Project Stream? Well, it is a service which needs a PC that can run the latest version of Chrome browser and presumably you will be able to stream AAA games just by that.
Now, of course, this will be some kind of a subscription service and you will also have to buy the game. But right now they are just testing out Assassin’s Creed so the people who have already signed up can experience and test out the things that work and also give feedback about what needs to be improved.
The one thing that you will need the most is a 25MB/s down speed internet connection which isn’t even that big of a deal considering today’s standards and a large number of people already have a fast connection. This will really revolutionize the gaming industry by allowing people to play modern games without investing in an expensive piece of hardware.
Even if it just works for single player gaming it would be a huge deal breaker as most of the people already own a PC running Chrome on it. This has the potential to completely destroy the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo market whose businesses are based on the idea of selling third-party multiplatform games to their consumers.
The Google is looking for people in the US to test their service with the opportunity to play the games for free and all you need is a fast internet connection with at least 25 MB/s to get the experience. We have even heard rumors that console manufacturers might shift into making lightweight consoles for this Project Stream service.
These consoles will, of course, be extremely cheap and for those who are on a really tight budget will be able to enjoy gaming as well. It opens up a wider market especially at the beginning of the generation where normally consoles or gaming PCs are at their most expensive keeping people out.
There is also a possibility that later on, this streaming service might come to phones like Android and iOS as they also run Chrome browser. There are millions and millions of people, an untapped market so to speak for these gaming companies to go after.
Microsoft has officially talked about reaching 2 billion gamers and you know there are 10 million to 200 million console gamers while the rest are off in the mobile market and the PC market but you need the technology and the hardware cheap enough to reach those people and this is what exactly Google is offering us with their Project Stream.
Now let’s talk about how well this beta version of Project Stream actually performs, well I must say that I was pretty surprised to see that the settings in the game were maxed out and the game was running at 1080p 60 FPS. The compression is also really good and does not affect the imagery that much.
Some artifacts can be seen due to compression while running but they are negligible but if you are on a slower connection like say 15 MB/s then the artifacts look really bad but the game is still very playable. The latency is also very minimum which is the most important thing here. Although one thing that I did notice is when you move the mouse around the latency increases and makes it almost unplayable.
Other than that I was pretty impressed with the performance and being able to run Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on my mediocre laptop at max settings 1080p was a really nice experience. Also, this is just the beginning and this technology will, of course, get better with time and with 5G internet just around the corner it will really take a hit.
This is all for know! I hope you enjoyed this post. Tell us what you think about it in the comments section below.