Many a company has taken a stab at offering a game streaming service (with varying levels of success) but now the biggest name of them all has thrown its hat in the ring at the Games Developer Conference (GDC) 2019-- Google.
Dubbed Stadia, the Google game streaming services promises to be the most powerful of them all. It requires no dedicated hardware, since the idea is to allow on gameplay on any screen, be it a desktop PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone or TV (via Chromecast), so long it is able to decode video. Google already tested the idea earlier last year with "Project Stream," a means to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey on the Chrome browser, but the search giant now wants to all kinds of games, all running on Google datacentres.
Google claims the Stadia platform even makes for the most powerful gaming hardware as yet-- according to the company, users get access to an AMD-built custom CPU boasting up to 10.7 teraflops of processing power, and the Google servers can also handle seamless multiplayer gaming. The result, Google claims, is a system able to stream games at 4K resolution at 60fps, complete with HDR and surround sound.
While we did say Stadia requires no additional hardware, Google does have an accessory on offer in the shape of a dedicated joypad. It looks like any regular Xbox controller, but it does have a couple of interesting features. For instance, it connects directly to the Stadia servers via wifi, while a dedicated button allows one to summon the Google Assistant and ask for help with games (a microphone, of course, comes built-in). Another button provides means to instantly share game video on YouTube.
Will Google succeed where the likes of OnLive didn't? Of course it all depends on the kind of internet connection Stadia requires-- after all, Google Stream required a 25mps internet connection to run in a satisfactory manner. But Google appears willing to throw is muscle into Stadia, and we will know more once the service launches later this year.
