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What Developers Should Know from Gamescom 2019

Your one-stop-shop for all things Gamescon 2019

Gamescom 2019 in Cologne, Germany, has come to an end; although it only lasted a week (August 20-24), there were some significant announcements packed into that short time frame. In this article, we will take a look at four of the more prominent reveals and announcements — Nvidia's RTX momentum, Sega and Google Stadia's disappointments, and Nintendo and Microsoft's continued synergy — that set the tone for the gaming world in 2019 and 2020.

Despite its focus video game, Gamescom 2019 included many announcements that will affect the development community into 2020.

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A First Look at Google Stadia (Part 2)

This article is a continuation of A First Look at Google Stadia.

The Features

While a vision and technical specifications are essential for a gaming system, they alone do not sell units or subscriptions. In the end, what matters are the features provided to the player and the developer creating games for the enjoyment of the player. The Stadia keynote was lacking some vital information in that department, but it did include some insightful information on features that align with its vision, including Couch Multiplayer, State Share, Crowd Play, and Style Transfer ML.

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A Recap of GDC 2019

Each year, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings with it a host of important announcements and demonstrations and GDC 2019 did not disappoint. This week was packed with news, including Google's Stadia gaming service, partnerships between the console makers, and a demonstration of the basic features of Microsoft's Project xCloud. In this article, we will recap the top news of the week. The following articles covered the day-by-day announcements throughout the week:

Top 3 Stories of the Week

Although there were dozens of important announcements during the week, three stood apart from the rest: Google's announcement of Stadia, Nintendo's partnership with Microsoft, and Microsoft's demonstration of its Project xCloud Software Development Kit (SDK).

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What’s Going on at GDC 2019?: Day 2

Day 2 at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 was without a doubt dominated by the announcement of Google Stadia, a cloud-based game streaming platform. This service—scheduled for release in 2019—is set to change the landscape of gaming for many years, but it does have some serious unanswered questions and could be less than a dominant force in the gaming market. Not to be lost in the shadows, Tuesday also saw the partnership between Unity and Tencent, bringing the capability of the cloud to the rugged game development engine.

Google: Stadia

Google announced its new cloud-based streaming service, Stadia, during its 1:00 pm ET keynote; although some details are lacking, the technology looks promising. Stadia is a game streaming service built on top of the Google Data Center network, which includes over 7,500 edge nodes and is connected by high-speed fiber-optic links around the globe. While game streaming services have been lackluster in the past, Google appears to have the technology and network backbone to support its attempt at this type of service.