Google Announces Stadia at GDC 2019
Google finally unveiled their plans for gaming at the Game Developer’s Conference. It’s a big announcement too. Fans hoping for a Google console may be disappointed a little, but I will say that I’m very interested in how everything plays out. First, it should be noted that their gaming platform is called Stadia. Second, Stadia is essentially the public version of Project Stream which allowed testers to stream Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at 1080p and 60 fps in a Google Chrome browser on any device. It turns out that those specs were simply the beginning.
In the keynote, we were told that at launch, Stadia would support 4K resolution at 60 fps with support for HDR and surround sound, and Google plans on getting it up to 8K with a higher frame-rate sometime in the future. This is in part possible due to the power of the data centers being used. Google teamed up with AMD to develop a new GPU that can operate at 10.7 teraflops which is more than the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X combined.
Multiplayer has been another big push for Google and because of the structure of Stadia, they say it will be easier for developers to bring couch co-op back to gaming! In addition, Google says that cross-play will be 100% supported and you can even move your game saves and progress from other platforms.
Let’s shift our focus away from Stadia for a moment and talk about the Stadia controller. We recently learned about the patent for the controller and saw a mock-up of it and thankfully, it looks more comfortable than the mock-up. In fact, to me, it looks like a blend of the PS4 controller and the Xbox One controller. It’s more than a mere controller though. The controller itself will connect to wifi and has some nifty features. The controller will have a built-in mic and the traditional buttons and analog sticks you would expect, but there’s more. Google Assistant is built into the controller so you can ask for help with your games without having to pull out your computer or leave your game. It also features a Capture button that will immediately let you begin streaming your gameplay to YouTube in 4K. Of course, you can use the controllers you already own as well such as those for Nintendo Switch when you’re playing on a PC or laptop.
If you’re a streamer, there are more tools for you as well besides simply streaming your gaming session. Stadia will allow you to use State Share to allow you to share a save state with your followers and let them try out challenges that you set for them. One of Google’s big goals is to decrease the disconnect between content creators and players and they seem to be trying really hard to knock it out of the park.
There’s a lot more that Google talked about, but these are really the big points for non-developers. Do you think this could be the start of the end of consoles? There’s no word on pricing for Stadia games or controllers yet and as far as a release date, we know it will be sometime in 2019. I’ve included a video from Tech Insider that gives the highlights of the presentation in just under 5 minutes as well as the full hour-long presentation from Google. Are you excited for Stadia?