Google launches streaming video game service Stadia
Tech giant Google says gamers can stream games across multiple devices through Google's Chrome browser or by plugging a Chromecast Ultra device into their TV.
Google is finally getting into the gaming business — and it’s doing it from the cloud.
The search giant on Tuesday unveiled Stadia, a Netflix-like streaming platform for video games that will allow users to play top-tier titles with nothing more than a web connection.
Stadia, Google says, will break down barriers to entry such as high-priced consoles by making video games accessible on any PC or laptop using the Chrome browser, as well as the rest of Google’s suite of products including the Chromecast and Pixel phones.
There is not yet a price tag on Stadia, but Google said it will be available at some point in 2019.
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“Our goal is to reduce the friction between excitement about a game and playing a game,” Google VP Phil Harrison said.
In a demo at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Harrison showed how a person watching a trailer for a game on YouTube will be prompted with a “play now” button, which will instantaneously bring them into the game which is being streamed from Google’s servers.
Google did not unveil any games for Stadia — save for an upcoming “Doom” sequel and a partnership with Spanish indie game developer Tequila Games — but said that it would be creating its own games under newly formed game developer Stadia Games and Entertainment.
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Part of the appeal of Stadia, Google claims, is that streamers will be able to directly interact with their viewers. One on-stage demo showed viewers joining a queue to play “NBA 2K19” with the streamer.
The only hardware to accompany the Stadia announcement is a proprietary controller — similar to that of the PS4 and Xbox — which Google says will help solve latency issues by connecting to WiFi rather than Bluetooth.
Shares of Google on Tuesday rose 1.2 percent to 1,202.46.
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
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