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Google acquires Green Throttle Games to help work on upcoming set-top box

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According to a new report out of PandoDaily, Google has just acquired the Santa Clara-based Green Throttle Games. The report claims that Google has acquired the parts and labor of the company and that it plans to use it in its quest to develop a set-top box.

A Google spokesperson confirmed that a deal has been made between the two companies, but would not give specific information. The deal reportedly does consist of Matt Crowley and Karl Townsend, who worked on the first iteration of the Palm Pilot and are co-founders of Green Throttle Games.

Green Throttle Games launched in 2012 and set out to create a seamless gaming experience with Android devices. The company sold a custom ‘Atlas’ controller that worked with Android devices that had their Android Arena app installed. The controller would work with Android devices via BlueTooth. The technology never really took off and was criticized for being buggy and too far behind its competitors.

Google confirmed that the third co-founder of Green Throttle Games, Charles Huang of Guitar Hero, does own the rights to the business. The company, however, removed its Arena app from the Play Store last November, which essentially makes their console useless. Although it is still sold through Amazon.

The acquisition does make sense, considering that we’ve been hearing reports of a Google set-top box for a while now. Obviously, one of the biggest areas that the Apple TV currently lacks in is gaming, so if Google were to makes that the selling point of its box, it would have a significant chance of gaining ground on Apple’s box.

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