Cloud game streaming seems to be the main agenda set for GDC 2019

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Past Game Developer Conferences have generated some of the biggest stories in the gaming industry. Microsoft gave us Direct X 12, Epic made the Unreal Engine free and who can forget Microsoft’s introduction of DirectX Raytracing for Windows 10 DirectX 12 graphics API, a move which has taken real-time ray tracing from concept to reality.

While GDC has always given us some memorable moments in the history of gaming, this year appears to be no different. Big names like Google, Microsoft, Epic and Valve are all beginning to take centre stage to showcase innovations in gaming.

Microsoft
Microsoft appears to be working on streaming services on multiple fronts. Project xCloud, Microsoft’s game streaming solution seems to be the company’s primary focus at the moment. Although gamers might see a cheap, streaming-centric, disc-less Xbox One console. Microsoft’s new attitude to gaming is focused on ‘you playing games’ as opposed to ‘where you play games.’ While we already received confirmation that Microsoft ported Xbox Live to iOS and Android, further speculation suggests that the tech giant will also bring its Game Pass subscription service on the Nintendo Switch.

GoogleGoogle is all set to take the gaming industry by storm with “Project Stream”. This cloud game streaming platform has been put through the paces in the last six months. Users who signed up during testing received a copy of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey for the duration of the test. However, rather than own a copy of the game, users were expected to stream Assassin’s Creed from Google’s servers to their PC via Chrome. Renders of a Google controller have also surfaced, indicating that the tech giant might unveil a streaming-centric console at the event.

Steam vs Epic
Two of the biggest online game stores will go head-to-head at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Epic Games Store will be looking to dethrone Steam with the unveil of Epic-exclusive games. But the company will have to do much more than exclusivity as Valve plans to introduce the Steam app’s new streaming capabilities. Valve may also be looking to address some of the problems that plague the Steam store.