Sony PlayStation has managed to dominate the current console generation with its list of exclusive titles and impressive price point.
Managing to hit the market at a lower cost and continuing to offer exciting experiences through the likes of God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man has helped greatly.
But it appears that the Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One could be facing a shock new rival in the coming months.
Google could be planning a surprise gaming reveal this year that could impact Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One in a big way.
We already know that both companies have plans to release new consoles in the future.
These will replace the current PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, which have both proven successes in their own rights.
And now it appears that another major tech giant could be readying a move into the market, making big waves as they come.
While Sony can rely on their PS4 console range to continue selling reasonably well in 2019, things could be changing soon.
It’s believed that Google will be entering the video games industry with its own streaming service, being dubbed “the Netflix of games”.
Google is holding a press conference during the Game Developers Conference in March; a fact revealed earlier this week.
This will be held on March 19th and is promising a big reveal from Google, and a follow up to their game streaming trials earlier this year.
Project Stream made it possible for beta testers to try out Assassin’s Creed Odyssey via a Chrome browser.
“Stream the game right in your computer’s Chrome browser. With no installs or downloads, you can hop between computers just by signing in to your Google Account,” a message from the company on the subject reads.
“Hop on a computer that has a reliable internet connection (don’t worry, we’ll run a quick test for you later). You won’t be able to play on a phone or tablet.
“Plug in your controller or mouse & keyboard and start playing. Try wired USB controllers like DualShock 4 or Xbox One and 360 controllers.”
And now a new source has revealed that Google will be revealing new hardware during GDC 2019.
According to 9to5google, the tech giant is planning to unveil its future support for Project Stream, as well as something else.
This will reportedly include new gaming hardware which will likely be used to play games on TVs, it’s also been confirmed that it will boast in-game chat, a feature much needed for most games.
However, while it’s been revealed that Google will be showing off new hardware, we don’t know in what form this will come.
It seems likely that Google will want to offer some kind of controller support for their new gaming machine, with the existing Project Stream requiring Xbox One and PS4 input devices.
It’s also unclear just what kind of impact this new system could have on the industry.
PlayStation, Microsoft and Nintendo dominate the current gaming landscape and do this through a mix of features and exclusive content.
Sony just saw a range of their PS4 games – such as Spider-Man and God of War – win big at award shows.
Nintendo is known to have some of the most valuable IPs available, while Microsoft has made great strides to offer innovation through features like the Xbox Game Pass.
So what exactly will Google add to the party? Like many before it, it will need to offer some kind of parity when it comes to third-party games, and it will also need some kind of exclusive support.
It follows some good news received by Sony PlayStation this week regarding sales.
While many have predicted 2019 to be a transition year for the PS4, data from the last month of December seems to show Sony has improved on their earlier console attempts.
VGChartz has shared new data that confirms that PS4 is still outselling the PS3 in the key market of Japan.
Here’s more from the site, which reveals: “December 2018 is the 59th month of the PlayStation 4 being on sale in Japan. The gap grew in favour of the PlayStation 4 by 106,776 units in the last month and in favour of the PlayStation 4 by 235,868 units in the last 12 months.
“The PlayStation 4 currently leads by just 440,458 units. The PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006, while the PlayStation 4 launched in February 2014. The PlayStation 4 has sold 7.58 million units, while its predecessor the PlayStation 3 sold 7.14 million units.”