Google has introduced its new cloud-based gaming platform, Stadia, at its annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. Touted as the "future of gaming," the streaming game service is designed to run on everything from PCs and Android phones to Google's own Chromecast devices.
The Netflix-like service is expected to launch later this year with big name titles including Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Doom Eternal, and it's Google's plan to take on game industry leaders such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo even without a console system. The service will be accessible over the internet on a variety of platforms.
Google says Stadia will be able to offer 4K gaming at up to 60fps, as well as HDR and surround sound, with the view to stream at 8K resolutions and 120fps in the near future. Since Stadia will run across multiple devices, allowing you to instantly switch between different screens, the games can be accessed via Play Now buttons which can appear after a YouTube video, as well as the dedicated Stadia Store and Stadia Player where you’ll be able to launch your games from, just by clicking a link.
In order to play the games, Google is offering a hardware component with the Stadia Controller, which was previously teased last week. The traditional looking gamepad boasts dual analog joysticks, four face buttons, and shoulder buttons. The controller will connect to the cloud via wi-fi, and includes a "share" button to connect to YouTube and a Google Assistant button.
In regards to how Stadia is powered, Google has teamed up with AMD to create a custom GPU that powers its worldwide data centers in more than 200 countries that is streamed over hundreds of millions of miles of fiber optic cable.
Google didn’t reveal pricing or how many games the service will have at launch, but for more details about Stadia, follow on over to the brand's official website.
