Google is reportedly working on a games console to rival the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it could appear as early as next week.
The search giant has posted a link on Twitter to a livestream that’s due to kick off at the Game Developers Conference on 19 March at 5pm UK time.
The company says it will be announcing “the future of gaming” at the San Francisco-based event, matching earlier rumours that suggest Google is developing a games system unlike the current crop of home consoles.
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According to the Daily Express, the system will utilise Google’s “project stream” technology, which allows users to play games in web browsers, indicating that the console may allow players to stream games over the internet in real time.
While details about the console - codenamed “Yeti” - are scarce, it has been rumoured that one of the gaming industry’s biggest names may be working with Google on the new system.
Sega, which stopped producing consoles in the early 2000s following lacklustre sales of the Dreamcast, is reportedly teaming up with Google to launch games on the streaming system, according to gaming YouTube channel Spawn Wave.
The Japanese games giant hasn’t announced a new entry in its Sonic the Hedgehog franchise for some time and there are only two titles - Team Sonic Racing and Judgment - that are due to launch on consoles this year, says GameRant.
This makes the rumour “somewhat easier to believe than it would be otherwise”, although the YouTube channel’s claims should still be taken with a pinch of salt, the website adds.
Meanwhile, iNews says that the console has been “in the works for over three years” and that Google has been interested in entering the gaming space for “the better part of a decade”.
The news site claims there’s also a chance gamers may already own the console, as Google may choose to stream games over its Chromecast - a USB dongle that allows users to stream movies and shows to their TV.
If the rumours are true and Google does unveil a new console next week, it may beat gaming giants Sony and Microsoft at their own game.
Both companies are due to launch new versions of their gaming systems in 2020, with Microsoft reportedly interested in delivering its own video game streaming service in the near future.
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