Google Dives Into Game Streaming With Assassin's Creed Odyssey

For as much as it's discusses, game streaming is something that's still very much in its infancy. Sony has found some degree of success with its PlayStation Now platform, and Microsoft has plans to break into game streaming with the Xbox brand, but there's still plenty of problems to solve in the space. Google is looking to do just that with a new service it's calling Project Stream, which was officially announced today.

Google bills Project Stream as "a technical test to solve some of the biggest challenges of streaming." It's diving in head first, as the first game it will use for this test is Assassin's Creed Odyssey – a not-yet released title that's going to be on the higher-end in terms of graphics. If you're setting out to solve some of game streaming's big problems, you might as well make it a trial by fire, right?

What are the problems Google is looking to solve? While we've got movie and television streaming down pretty well, latency becomes a major issue in game streaming. Graphics degradation is also a concern with game streaming, so not only does latency have to be low enough that there isn't severe input lag, but it has to look good too.

Google seems to be doing pretty well on the graphics front at least, as it's published a video of Assassin's Creed Odyssey playing at 1080p60 through Project Stream. It's now inviting users to sign up to be testers – assuming you're accepted into the program, you'll be able to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey for free on Project Stream beginning on October 5.

Of course, Google has a few requirements of those who want to be testers. You'll need a home internet connection capable of reaching speeds of at least 25 Mbps, and testers need to be 17 years old or older. You'll also need Chrome installed on either a desktop or laptop, as that's what you'll be streaming through. If you meet those requirements, you can sign up to be considered as a tester over on the Project Stream website.