Google takes a long sideways look at gaming

You might want to strap in, for the road connecting the facts on this one is bumpy indeed -- but intriguing as well. Via 1UP comes the word that search engine giant Google has hired Mark DeLoura to work on game development for the Android and Chrome OS. DeLoura brings with him a truckload of game consulting experience, and had a few interesting comments about the new job on his blog:

"Over the years I've seen Google ship products that seemed very useful for game developers, like Google SketchUp and 3D Warehouse. I always wondered why they didn't dive into games further – or, perhaps they were, and they were doing it in secret! :-) Google Lively was probably the closest thing to a game that they produced. When I started hearing about their work on O3D, I began to get very curious about what Google was planning. Clearly there are a number of initiatives going on at Google that can relate to games in some way. Those of you who attended GDC for example saw a massive push for games for Android, with Google giving away perhaps thousands of Android devices. Now seemed like the perfect time to join Google!"

So what does this have to do with the world of MMOs? Perhaps nothing, perhaps a great deal. If you'll recall, Google experimented with an online avatar experience called Lively that was closed in early 2009. Even though Lively was not a roaring success, Google's interest in the games market and their prior foray into online worlds could signal a possible future contender in our neck of the woods.