Google is setting the bar pretty high for its Game Developers Conference keynote that’s scheduled for a week from today, during which the company promises to unveil its vision for the “future of gaming.”
That’s the phrasing the company used in a tweet today that was accompanied by a video asking users to “gather round” and which can be seen at the top of this post. In the short clip, which doesn’t include any other details, we see scenes that appear to be from a concert backstage, another from inside a plane and still others (all presented in quick succession) from a garage and some sort of sci-fi scenario. As it draws to a close, we see the words “Gather around” in white against a black background.
What to make of this? Well, at a minimum, it’s worth offering a reminder that Google will reportedly show off a new device next week for streaming games that’s tied to the company’s Project Steam offering. Project Yeti, as we noted last month, is the codename for the hardware that would run the game streaming service.
Gather around as we unveil Google’s vision for the future of gaming at #GDC19. Join us live 3/19 at 10 a.m. PT → https://t.co/rb6fN26PDi pic.twitter.com/Vd242KZAWO
— Google (@Google) March 12, 2019
In related news, we could also get our first glimpse of a game controller Google is apparently working on, for which a patent made headlines in recent days. Per Variety, the patent shows a controller with two thumbsticks, shoulder and trigger buttons, a D-pad, face buttons and a rectangular body. It also appears to be compatible with a voice assistant, which could be an indication of being able to use Google Assistant via the controller.
Google certainly seems to be poised to make a big splash at GDC, with the company set for 16 presentations on just the first day of the conference. Certainly, Google joins several other big companies in sharing a newfound interest in game streaming, including Apple and Amazon, which is one of several reasons it will definitely be interesting to see what Google has in store as part of its big “future of gaming” reveal.
