GDC 2019 | Google to hold event at GDC next month, possibly related to its Project Stream game streaming service

The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is an annual conference where game publishers and developers meet to unveil their latest ideas. It’s also the place where the public gets a taste of gaming technology currently in development as a hint of what’s to come to the gaming world. It’s odd, then, that a company focused on data, search, smartphones, and other non-gaming ventures should hold their own event at GDC. But that’s exactly what Google is doing.

Speculation is running wild around the games journalism world today about what Google may present at GDC. The most likely prediction is news pertaining to the search giant’s Project Stream, an in-browser game streaming service that Google has been developing for several months.

The last time we heard about Project Stream was back in December when Google ran a promotion for those that demoed Stream. Google gave free copies of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to participants selected to trial the service. Odyssey is currently the only game that has been tested via Stream, so Google’s event might announce more games coming to the service.

This isn’t the first time Google has participated in some capacity at GDC, but the company’s involvement is typically limited to Android gaming and supporting other developers. We haven’t seen a large event from Google at GDC in the past, which makes this announcement unique. Game streaming is the hottest thing in the gaming world; companies like Microsoft and Amazon are developing their own game streaming services, while Nvidia and Sony are currently vying for dominance in the burgeoning market.

It should be noted that currently, the Project Stream website states that the project is over. While this likely means that Google is no longer taking applications for beta testers, it could be that Google has shuttered Project Stream. Obviously, that would mean Google's GDC keynote would be focused on something entirely different, probably related to Android gaming or gaming on Chromebooks. Android gaming has recently taken off thanks to multiple companies releasing gaming-centric phones. Subsequently, gaming on Chromebooks has also received renewed interest due to Android and Linux integration in Chrome OS.

We’ll see exactly what Google has in store for the gaming world at their event at GDC on March 19th.