Google unveils game streaming project, tests start soon with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

The games industry has yet to solve the problem of videogame streaming. The tragedy of OnLive proved just how difficult an issue it is. The combination of a far higher number of inputs and a much lower tolerance for latency makes game streaming a far more challenging prospect compared to streaming video.

If anyone has the resources to tackle the problem, however, it’s Google. And that’s precisely what the company is doing, with the announcement of Project Stream.

“The idea of streaming such graphically-rich content that requires near-instant interaction between the game controller and the graphics on the screen poses a number of challenges," Google stated. "When streaming TV or movies, consumers are comfortable with a few seconds of buffering at the start, but streaming high-quality games requires latency measured in milliseconds, with no graphic degradation.”

It’s worth noting that Google isn’t the only company which has recently returned to tackle the streaming challenge. Nvidia’s GeForce Now technology is currently in beta testing, while this year Blade launched its Shadow app subscription, which streams a powerful gaming PC directly to your computer (albeit at a hefty $34.95 a month).

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.