Is Google Venturing Into Game Business? BuyS Smartphone Game Controller Company

 Several rumours about an impending Google games console and set top box is becoming a reality as the giant firm confirms the purchase of Green Throttle Games

Google confirmed the acquisition, and stated that founder Charles Huang - who developed Guitar Hero - would keep the rights to the business, but did not reveal how much the deal was worth.

Reports about a potential Google console began last July, and were closely followed by rumours the firm was working on a set-top box - both of which would benefit from parts of Green Throttle Games' business.

The Green Throttle service is a games console in the form of an app. This app can be added to tablets, phones and other smart devices and used to link with smart TVs, for example. 

Games can then be played using an Atlas control pad, which looks similar to the Xbox controller, and up to four pads can be connected via Bluetooth. 

As part of the deal, Google has bought the app and controller parts of the business, and hired Green Throttle's founders Huang, Matt Crowley and Karl Townsend.

The Arena app was removed last year unexpectedly. Green Throttle said at the time: ‘Beginning November 8th, 2013, our Arena app will no longer be available on Google Play or the Amazon Appstore for Android and all backend support for the app will cease.

 The Wall Street Journal were the first to report on plans for an Android-based Google games console. The report said the console would be released 'in the near future' but did not add any more details. Designers then developed concept videos, pictured, of what the console could look like 

Designers then developed concept videos of what the console could look like.
The same month, the Wall Street Journal reported Google was working on a prototype set-top box similar to the Roku box, or Apple TV, set to be released the first half of this year.

It is expected to stream content currently available on Google's Play store.
These reports surfaced at a similar time Amazon was reportedly working on a similar device and more recent rumours claim Amazon’s version could be released by the end of the month. 

Instead of launching a games console, Google could use the Green Throttle Bluetooth technology to power an upcoming set-top box or controller.
In reality, an upcoming device could be a combination of the two and rival the likes of Microsoft's Xbox One.