All signs point to a Google game console announcement at GDC

Enlarge / A (not serious) artist's conception of what Google's gaming hardware might look like. (credit: Ron Amadeo / Apple)
Normally, Google showing up to the Game Developers Conference isn't a huge deal. The company does this pretty much every year—Android smartphones and Google Play are a pretty big gaming platform, after all—and it shows up with livestreams and blog posts and all the usual festivities. This year, though, is different. Google has been sending out vague teasers since last month for a GDC event, but as the date approaches, the company has been dropping more and more hints of exactly what it is announcing: Google is launching video game hardware for the Project Stream platform.
A new YouTube video for the event posted today asks people to 'Gather around as we unveil Google’s vision for the future of gaming at GDC19.' Google recently wrapped up the 'Project Stream' beta test, which streamed a full version of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey from the Internet to any desktop version of Chrome. A game-streaming platform certainly fits a vision for the future of gaming, but this is still just a piece of software.
Google hardware
There are two big pieces of evidence that this is a hardware announcement. First, Google is a heavily compartmentalized company, and the person promoting this event on Twitter is none other than Risk Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of Hardware. Osterloh is behind the division that brought us the Pixel phone, Google Home, and every other Google hardware product. His involvement is a solid sign that, yes, new hardware is coming.
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