Bethesda’s ‘Orion’ could make game streaming services like Google Stadia even faster

Ben Schoon | Jun 10 2019 - 7:06 am PT

Game streaming is a weird idea when you really think about it, but it’s going to be a big deal with powerhouses such as Google Stadia entering the ring. At E3 2019, Bethesda showed off a new technology called “Orion,” and it could have implications for how fast services like Stadia are.

Google already makes some big promises with Stadia’s performance, but every little bit counts when we’re talking streaming. That’s where Bethesda’s Orion project comes into play. The company announced at E3 2019 that Orion is focused on streamlining the actual games themselves “at the game engine level” (via ArsTechnica).

Orion is a project Bethesda has apparently spent years working on, all in an effort to improve frame rendering times and also compression. Bethesda claims that Orion can optimize frame rendering by 20% per frame. Importantly for services such as Google Stadia, Bethesda says that Orion can improve compression to the point where streams require 40% less bandwidth without a loss in quality.

Orion is a game- and platform-agnostic technology that optimizes game engines for streaming. In contrast to game streaming services that focus on hardware solutions to stream games, Orion is a game engine-level software solution. Integrated within the game engine itself, Orion can achieve dramatic latency reductions of up to 20% per frame as well as up to a 40% reduction in required bandwidth.

Orion technology will make streaming games better for everyone. Orion was designed to improve the player experience by mitigating latency and reducing bandwidth requirements. Orion was also created for publishers, streaming providers, and developers to lower their streaming costs and ensure that games perform at the high quality they intended. Orion makes it possible for streamed video games to reach more players in more places without compromising quality.

Bethesda will demonstrate Orion by running a stream of Doom on iOS devices later this year. That same demo will later make its way to Android and PC for users who sign up for the Doom Slayers club.