Google has officially announced its interest in the video game market with Stadia. The company announced Stadia at the (GDC 2019) Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who claimed to have played FIFA 19 “quite a bit,” introduced the Stadia service. Describing it as a platform for everyone, Pichai talked up Google’s ambitions to stream games to all types of devices.
According to Google, Stadia is a gaming platform service that allows players to stream video games on any screen. The cloud-powered service will allow users to log in from any screen using the Chrome browser, a Chromecast device. Hence, it can be used on a phone, laptop, table, pc gaming and also on SmartTV.
Google spokesman said the Google gaming service will be launch in 2019 in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe.
Phil Harrison, a former Sony and Microsoft executive says Google will amplify this game streaming service by using YouTube and the many creators that already create game clips on the service.
Stadia Overview
This cloud gaming service can work on any hardware, hence, there will be no need for a game box. Stadia promises unparalleled graphical power, near-instant access and the ability to play the latest titles on almost any screen.
For years, many company has tried to venture into this aspect of gaming all to no avail. Hence, streaming games over the internet has seemed like an impossible dream, however, Google is promising to change the wave.
Although, other gaming company are trying to lay landmark in the gaming market, Stadia’s scope is on an entirely different level. Google has created its own video game development studio that will deliver exclusive games as well as other publishers’ titles.
This streaming platform will be fully integrated with YouTube. Google demonstrated a button that will let users watching video game footage on YouTube instantly click to play the game themselves. Stadia will also allow for easy capturing and real time sharing of game clips.
Performance
Google claimed there won’t be need for a specialized hardware. The “console” is essentially their centralized servers and data centers. And since everything is streaming over the internet connection, your progress and saves are synced across platforms.
Google also introduces the “Crowd Play” feature which will allow gamers and YouTube creators can get together. Crowd play works as a lobby for viewers to jump directly into the game and play with the creator.
Stadia Controller
Google’s gamepad is fairly conventional in design. It features two sticks, triggers, face buttons, and function buttons that allow instant clip-sharing and Google Assistant activation.
Google announced, it will launch its own controller for use with the service. The controller connects to Google’s servers over Wi-Fi for a low-latency, lag-free experience. This is a feature not seen on other game streaming services. The controller also has a built-in Google Assistant button and a Share button to upload sessions directly to YouTube.
This controller, however, is not a requirement for using Stadia. You can use standard USB controllers or a mouse and keyboard.
Software
The company claims at launch Stadia will support an HD 4K resolution at 60 frames per second thanks to a brand-new AMD GPU rated at 10.7 TFLOPs that powers the data center hardware. Stadia will also use multiple servers and GPUs seamlessly from AMD. That GPU has 10.7 teraflops of power, 56 compute units, and HBM2 memory.
Likewise, Stadia rely on server-class SSDs, which means your games and levels will load faster than any console.
Games Expected
According to google, one of the first games that will be supported is DOOM Eternal, which will be playable at full 4K 60FPS. We can also expect Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to be available as it was with Project Stream.
Google did not go into detail about the number of titles that will be available at launch. However, we can conclude that gaming on Stadia will be an experience worthwhile.
