The company showed off a new streaming service called Stadia that allows people to play high-end games without purchasing expensive consoles or computers.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during the Google keynote address at the Gaming Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 19, 2019.
Google on Tuesday announced its plans to spend the $140 billion gaming industry dominated by Sony and Microsoft with a new streaming service called Stadia that allows people to play high-end games without purchasing expensive consoles or computers. Google said this is a "game platform for everyone."
All of the legwork to render those games is done in Google's cloud.
Google explained a bit about how it will work. The company said that if someone is watching a video of a game on YouTube, they could hit a button that says "play now" and jump right into playing the game themselves in as fast as five seconds. Today, gamers have to buy physical games or wait, often hours, for the game to download before they can play. Even then, they also need special hardware to play those games.
Google says Stadia will run on "any screen type" but it will work on desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets and phones at launch. There's no box at all.
"With Stadia, the data center is your platform," Google said. A gamer can start on one platform and then pick up where they left off on another device, which means you might game on your computer and then continue on your phone when you leave the house.
People will be able to play with a keyboard and mouse or a special Stadia controller that Google will sell. It has a capture button that lets people share their games right to YouTube so that other people can watch. It also has a Google Assistant button, which gives access to the microphone for speaking to in-game features that developers will be able to build into their games.
Google said it will support 4K games at 60fps with HDR but that, in the future, will support games up to 8K resolution. Most people don't yet own 8K TVs and only the most recent gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony currently support 4K HDR gaming.
AMD helps Google power Stadia's graphics rendering in the cloud. AMD shares were up about 7 percent on news that it was partnering with Google on Stadia.
Google needs game studios to build titles for Stadia. It says developers can build on its cloud or in their own studios. id Software is already building "Doom Eternal" for Stadia and demoed it on stage. Another developer, Tequila Studios, showed its game "Rime" running on the platform.
But beyond that, there weren't many major game titles announced for the system. Google's biggest challenge will be to convince publishers to bring blockbuster games to the platform.
One expert who spoke to CNBC said Microsoft is better poised to offer a streaming video game service since it already has relationships with publishers in place and a strong fan base of gamers who buy its consoles. Microsoft's upcoming competitor is called xCloud.
"I'd favor Microsoft's chances given it too has the scale and technology but has been successfully engaged in the gaming industry via Windows and Xbox for over 30 years," Patrick Moorhead, president, and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy told CNBC ahead of Google's event.
Amazon is also reportedly building a cloud gaming service that could eventually run games like "New World," which is developed by its in-house studio but currently only works on PCs.
If you're wondering what games are coming up in 2019, we've put them all in one convenient location. This list will be continually updated to act as a living, breathing schedule as new dates are announced, titles are delayed, and big reveals happen. This should help you plan out your next several months in gaming and beyond.
As the gaming calendar is constantly changing, we highly recommend you bookmark this page. You'll likely find yourself coming back to this to find out the most recent release schedule for the most anticipated games across PC, consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices. If you notice that we've missed something, feel free to let us know! Please note that games will not get assigned to a month until they have confirmed release dates.
From May onwards it’s a bit of a toss-up regarding which games will be releasing in 2019. There is one that certain fans will be looking forward to though.
Team Sonic Racing (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) - May 21
At the moment, we don’t know many release dates past August, but there are plenty of confirmed games for 2019 that just don’t have a full release date yet. We’ve listed the, all below, and will put any release windows where applicable.
Animal Crossing (Nintendo Switch)
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Catherine: Full Body (PS4, PSVita)
Code Vein (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Control (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Dreams (PS4)
Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Switch, PS4)
Gears 5 (Xbox One, PC)
In the Valley of the Gods (PC)
Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch)
The Lego Movie 2 (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Switch)
2019 is shaping up to be a great year for PC gaming. Here's all of the 2019 PC games we know about so far.
Onimusha: Warlords (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Jan 15
Resident Evil 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Jan 25
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (PC) – Feb 1
The Occupation (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Feb 5
Total War: Three Kingdoms (PC) – Feb 7
God Eater 3 (PS4, PC) – Feb 8
Monster Energy Supercross 2 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Feb 8
Trials Rising (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Feb 12
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (PC) – Feb 14
Crackdown 3 (Xbox One, PC) – Feb 15
Far Cry: New Dawn (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Feb 15
Jump Force (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Feb 15
Anthem (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Feb 22
Metro Exodus (PS4, Xbox One, PC ) – Feb 22
Anno 1800 (PC) – Feb 26
Dirt Rally 2.0 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – Feb 26
Left Alive (PS4, PC) – March 5
Total War: Three Kingdoms (PC) – March 7
Devil May Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – March 8
The Division 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – March 15
The Sinking City (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – March 21
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4, Xbox One, PC) – March 22
Mortal Kombat 11 (Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC) - April 23
Super Meat Boy Forever (PC, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Switch) - April TBC
Team Sonic Racing (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) - May 21
Rage 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) - May 14
Phoenix Point (PC, Xbox One) - June
Shenmue III (PS4, PC) - August TBA
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Code Vein (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Control (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Gears 5 (Xbox One, PC)
In the Valley of the Gods (PC)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (PC, Xbox One)
Psychonauts 2 (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Skull & Bones (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
The Outer World (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
The Surge 2 (PC, Consoles)
Twin Mirror (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Wargroove (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One) - Q1
Wasteland 3 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Chaos; Child (PC) - Jan 22
Life Is Strange 2 - Episode 2: Rules (PC, PS4, Xbox One) - Jan 24
Dead or Alive 6 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) - March 1
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove (PC, Mac, Lin, Switch, Ps4, Xbox One) - March 1
Tropico 6 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) - March 29
Shovel Knight: Showdown (PC, Mac, Lin, PS4, Wii U, Switch, Xbox One) - April 9
Life Is Strange 2 - Episode 2: Rules (PC, PS4, Xbox One) - Jan 24
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Switch, PS4, Xbox One) - Feb 21
Lego Movie 2 Videogame (Switch, PS4, Xbox One) - Feb 26
Dead or Alive 6 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) - March 1
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove (PC, Mac, Lin, Switch, Ps4, Xbox One) - March 1
Tropico 6 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) - March 29
Shovel Knight: Showdown (PC, Mac, Lin, PS4, Wii U, Switch, Xbox One) - April 9
Dauntless (PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One) - April TBC
That’s all we’ve got so far for 2019 video game release dates. We'll be making regular updates throughout the year, as new games are announced. Be sure to check back to stay in the loop.
.jpg)
