Google Stadia

Stadia is a cloud gaming service by Google, offering people to launch and play games through a Chrome browser with heavy processing performed on the data centers. Google claims to be able to provide 4K graphics with 60 FPS streaming, 5.1 surround sound, and high dynamic range support on compatible devices and screens. Expensive gaming hardware has always been a barrier for the gaming community to embrace the latest games, services like Stadia aim to remove the barrier. With Stadia, client devices only require devices capable of running the latest Google Chrome and high-speed internet, without the need for powerful gaming hardware. Google plans to launch the services in November 2019 with selected games in selected countries. 

Google debuted the idea as “Project Stream” to test the interactivity of cloud gaming in October 2018 with Ubisoft’s “Assasin’s Creed Odyssey.” After launch, Stadia will be subscription based with pre-included games and the ability to purchase additional games. Google offered early adopters of the service with “Stadia Founders Edition” Chromecast Ultra, Stadia Controller, and one year of Destiny 2 subscription for pre-ordering. 

Features

Stadia is a cloud-based gaming and streaming service, allowing players to play the latest games on limited powered devices. Stadia is almost platform agnostic with compatible devices including desktop, laptops, tablets, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a phones and TV through chromecast ultra. Stadia is built upon technology based on Google Chrome and YouTube to bring gamers and streamers into a single community. Users will not need to download games for installation on their local machine or wait for patches as server-based system handle the files and updates. Stadia also allows players to stream gameplay directly on YouTube.

Hardware and Software

Google will use the Linux operating system, Vulkan graphics API, a custom AMD Radeon GPU, and Intel-based CPU. Google will also be launching a Stadia controller, which directly connects to Google’s data center through Wi-Fi to provide low input latency. The controller also features Google Assistant to let users search for content on YouTube and Google Search Engine.

Games

On June 6, 2019, Google announced the first wave of games to be available on launch. Current known games to be released on launch are: