Next week is the annual Game Developer’s Conference (GDC), billed as the largest professional industry event dedicated to video games. One of the most anticipated events for GDC 2019 is being held by a company that’s not exactly known for being a gaming powerhouse: Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google. The company is inviting media to a press conference on Mar. 19, where it says “the future of gaming” will be revealed.

Google’s vision for the future of gaming is streaming. That likely means Mar. 19 will see an update on Project Stream, details on Project Yeti and possibly a look at the company’s secretive game streaming hardware.

GDC 2019: Get Ready for Project Yeti

In January, Google wrapped up Project Stream. That was a public trial of the company’s game streaming service, where the AAA videogame Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was playable through Google’s Chrome web browser. Google is expected to provide an update on how well that trial went. In particular, we’re waiting to hear if Project Stream solved the issue of latency — lag between the player’s device and Google’s servers. 

Project Stream is part of a larger overall streaming gaming effort at Google, code-named Project Yeti. The expectation is that Google is ready to make some big announcements on that front.

What we know about Project Yeti at this point is Google cloud servers will host video games. Those games stream in real time to a device over the internet, so the player isn’t required to buy a dedicated game console. Project Stream was intended to prove that complex games can be played with cloud servers doing the heavy lifting — Assassin’s Creed Odyssey normally requires a relatively powerful gaming PC with a dedicated video card. It’s a given that Google will charge a monthly subscription fee to play these games.

The missing piece is hardware for Project Yeti. In order to provide an optimal gaming experience and to make it possible to play games on a TV, the company has reportedly been working on new hardware. Having to buy a console would run contrary to the whole “playing games without a console” approach Google is going for, but there still needs to be some sort of interface to a TV screen. That may take the form of an inexpensive box or even a dongle similar to Google’s Chromecast. Google has also patented a wireless game controller, the other piece of hardware needed to make video games on a TV playable. A game controller is also important for games on a smartphone or tablet that were not developed specifically for a touch-controlled mobile device.

Google plans to make Project Yeti the big buzz from GDC 2019 and that could well include a look at hardware, including that game controller.  

Microsoft Tries to Play Spoiler

Many big tech companies are currently exploring the video game streaming space. One of the key competitors to Google’s Project Stream will be Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and last night that company held a demonstration of its xCloud game streaming service that was clearly timed to take a little of the spotlight off Google. 

Microsoft is being careful not to position xCloud as a replacement for buying an Xbox game console. Instead, it’s positioning the service — which it demonstrated streaming Xbox games to an Android smartphone over the web — as providing more choice and versatility for gamers.

A Streaming Future for Gaming?

When it comes to “the future of gaming,” Google sees it as streaming games from its cloud centers to mobile devices or to a TV via an inexpensive dongle. Game subscriptions instead of game purchases and downloads. With the global video game industry worth an estimated $138 billion in 2018, positioning itself to grab a chunk of that has significant upside for Google. We’ll find out on Mar. 19 whether the company is ready to pull the trigger and launch its service, or whether Project Yeti will remain a concept for the time being.

As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.