Google To Begin Beta Testing Of Project Stream, Starting With 'Assassin's Creed Odyssey'

Alphabet, Inc. GOOG GOOGL will soon be launching beta testing of a new video game streaming service as it competes with Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and other companies for a share of the rapidly growing online gaming, streaming and e-sports markets.

What Happened

Google announced it will begin limited beta testing of its recently unveiled Project Stream game streaming service starting on Oct. 10. The beta test will start with “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey,” which is scheduled for release Oct. 5. Project Stream will theoretically allow PC gamers to play major AAA video games straight from their Chrome browser.

Why It’s Important

According to Bank of America analyst Justin Post, the beta test suggests Google is making major progress on getting the technology in place for a large-scale game streaming service. It’s still too early in development for Alphabet investors to estimate the financial impact of Project Stream, but content providers appear willing to help facilitate the process.

“Over time, we see streaming as the next big disruptive transition for video games, opening the door to new sector entrants and potentially driving higher value realization for content owners," Post said in a note.

While Google has very little connection to the video game publishing industry at this point, it’s massive YouTube platform and nearly unlimited resources certainly give it potential to be a major player in the space. The company recently overhauled its YouTube Gaming platform, which is a direct competitor to Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform. Post says the launch of Project Stream could ultimately be a major subscription revenue growth driver for Google if all goes according to plan.

What’s Next

Post says the major technical hurdle for Project Stream is currently latency, which is the reason why the beta testing will be geared toward only homes with 25 Mb/s high-speed connections.

Investors will be watching to see how Google’s beta testing performs and will also be watching for competing services from Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Amazon, Apple, Inc. AAPL and/or other tech leaders.

Regardless of which platforms end up leading the way in video game streaming, Post says content owners should be big winners. “Red Dead Redemption 2” will be a big winner this holiday season, and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. TTWO is his top stock pick in the publishing space.

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Photo courtesy of Ubisoft.