Google is set to enter the home console market, according to a source speaking to The Information.
The California-based search company purportedly wants to launch its own streaming service for video games.
Codenamed Yeti, the new project could also see Google launch its own dedicated video game console.
The search company recently hired Phil Harrison, who has previously worked for Microsoft and Sony’s gaming devisions.
Harrison will serve as Vice Present of Hardware for Google, leading credence to the rumour the company is creating its own console.
According to The Information, Google could also stream games to its existing ChromeCast hardware.
Google had planned to unveil its vision for the future of video games late last year, however the project was purportedly delayed.
By streaming games from its own servers, Google would be able to reduce the amount of processing power required from the end-user.
Since all the heavy lifting is handled by Google, players could stream their favourite games to a lightweight device, like a ChromeCast or micro-console.
Google is not the first company to approach this idea.
However, there biggest hurdle with streaming service is lag.
While a small amount of buffering on Netflix or Prime Video is annoying, it is disastrous for those attempting to play multi-player games online.
Gaming, by its nature, requires almost constant input from the player – with all of this data required to travel from your home to Google’s servers and then back.
This can be very taxing on a home broadband connection.
Players who are confronted with a pause between mashing a button on a controller and something actually happening on-screen are likely to quickly ditch the service for a local device.
Nvidia already offers a similar proposition with its Shield home entertainment device.
The set-top box enables users access to GeForce NOW, which allows Nvidia Shield owners to stream console-quality video games, including the likes of BioShock, Just Cause 2, The Witcher 3 and Tomb Raider Legend.
The lightweight home console, which is powered by a GeForce GTX 1080 gaming graphic card, has similar internals to the Nintendo Switch.
As such, it has a lot more grunt than a standard ChromeCast puck.