Hands-on with Assassin's Creed Odyssey on Google's Project Stream
On October 1st 2018, Google revealed the existence of Project Stream, an early demo "pushing the limits of streaming technology". Many in the industry - including Microsoft - believe that streaming gameplay over the internet is a key part of the future of gaming, and Google has shared some of its vision with a select few beta testers, including Digital Foundry. The demo itself is a collaboration with Ubisoft, with Assassin's Creed Odyssey taking centrestage as the game of choice.
But before we continue, what's unclear at the moment is the extent to which this demo represents any kind of end product and mystery still surrounds the system. What we do know is that Google is working on a gaming platform codenamed Yeti. Phil Harrison - a key figure in the success of PlayStation - is involved, while the brilliant Dr Richard Marks (creator of PlayStation Move, EyeToy and other innovations) has also joined the firm. Our understanding is that Yeti is a bespoke platform, built on Linux and using Vulkan as the graphics API of choice. We are also told by sources that there will be deep integration with YouTube, not just in terms of infrastructure but also in being able to leap from watching a video into playing a game. Whether these innovative ideas will make it into the final product remains to be seen, but suffice to say, Yeti may well be a major next-gen contender, especially with that kind of backing.
So is Project Stream also Project Yeti? Are we actually looking at a full port of Assassin's Creed Odyssey running on the new platform? Or is the demo simply testing the streaming side of the equation - compressing each frame, beaming it over the internet and decompressing it for the end user? Right now, we don't know - and neither Google nor Ubisoft are telling.
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