Google/SEGA It’s been rumoured for a while now that Google are looking to step into the console arena with a new device that will be able to stream games using Google’s own cloud based technology.
It sounds like ambitious stuff, and will likely expand on the Project Stream trial last year, which allowed users to stream Assassin’s Creed Odyssey straight from their browsers.
While an official announcement is expected later this month at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, new rumours suggest that Google is actually working with SEGA on this new hardware.
Sarang Sheth YouTuber Jonathan Downey, who posts videos to a channel called Spawn Wave, has drawn together a number of rumours regarding Google’s new console (including the recently discovered patents) and has discussed why he believes SEGA is involved.
I should point out that Downey doesn’t cite any particular insider source, so we need to take his comments with a big old grain of salt – but he does come to some interesting conclusions.
In the video, which you can see below, Downey claims that a number of big gaming companies are actually involved with the new console. We know the tech giant worked with Ubisoft on the Project Stream trial, for example, but SEGA is apparently said to be heavily involved.
SEGA hasn’t been in the hardware game for a while now. After the ill-fated Dreamcast failed to set the world alight, the company switched tracks and decided to focus exclusively on software. It is worth noting that SEGA does have experience in designing and creating hardware though, so a partnership with Google wouldn’t be the craziest thing in the world.
What we do know for sure right now is that Google will be holding a press conference at GDC on March 19. A pretty large number of gaming media have been invited along, so it’s a safe bet that whatever it has planned, it’ll be made clear at the event.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.