Citing a source familiar with the company’s plans, 9to5Mac is reporting that Google is planning to reveal its long-rumoured ‘Yeti’ gaming hardware at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 19th. Google will reportedly announce the hardware together with a Stream-powered game streaming service.
For those who don’t know, Google’s Stream technology allows users to stream games from its servers directly using a web browser and optional wired PlayStation or Xbox controllers, without requiring dedicated hardware beyond a PC or a Mac with a 25Mbps internet connection.
The company recently offered a three-month public trial of Stream, which according to the source, was actually a part of its broader gaming efforts known as Project Yeti. It is believed that Google is also developing a hardware component to get Yeti working on TVs:
“While the promise of streaming is that the device you are playing on becomes a thin Chromebook-esque client, most gamers — even casual ones — equate the experience to a large screen and dedicated controller. Hardware for Yeti was reportedly once a Chromecast dongle, but has since been described as a “gaming console” and controller designed by Google.”
The report further notes that Google’s upcoming Yeti game streaming service will also include an in-game chat feature.
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