Google announced last March 19 at the GDC 2019 (Game Developers Conference) held in San Francisco, USA, that it is launching into the world of video games. With Stadia, the Internet giant seeks to compete with other companies that offer video game streaming services such as Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.
At the presentation, Phil Harrison, who was a few years ago the head of Xbox and PlayStation, and is now a vice president at Google, said:
“It is a new concept, an entertainment platform that is not tied to the old conventions of consoles and that goes a step further, giving access to an important catalog of video games anywhere, anytime and on any device.”
One of the novelties of Stadia is that both cell phones, laptops or desktop computers that have Chrome, would be compatible. In addition, TVs with Chromecast Ultra will also be able to use the video game streaming service. Therefore, no downloads or updates are required, something the company calls “click to play”, as users will find the games in a browser window.
Other Stadia novelties that will not leave you indifferent at all
Google’s bet is ambitious, offering games in 4K quality and 60 frames per second with support for HDR and surround sound. It will boast graphics processing power of up to 10.7 teraflops, a figure well above the PlayStation Pro’s 4.2 teraflops and Xbos One X’s 6 teraflops.
Although Google’s idea is not new, as PlayStation Now has a service with the same intention as the one announced by Google. There is an important difference, and that is that with the first one, it is necessary to have the physical console and the offer is only of games of the brand.
Another new feature of Stadia is that it has a button to share the game broadcast. It will connect via wifi and will be integrated with the Google Assistant, so it will be possible to make voice command queries.
During the launch, no details were provided about the subscription prices, but it was announced that it will be available in the United States, Canada and most European countries in the first instance. In any case, they stated that the only requirement to enjoy the Stadia experience will be a stable internet connection.
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