This year’s Game Developer Conference was teeming with exciting announcements, none more so than Google’s keynote reveal about its upcoming game-streaming service, Stadia. Harnessing the power of cloud-computing, and the onset of 5G and the fastest internet speeds consumers have ever seen, Google Stadia aims to revolutionize the gaming industry.
In the reveal at the 2019 GDC held in San Francisco, Google demonstrated how Stadia could be used to give players access to AAA titles like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and play them directly on their browser. Google’s vision for gaming involves instant access to any gaming title, regardless of the kind of hardware you’re running. The way it works is Stadia ‘outsources’ the heavy-lifting to Google’s cloud-based supercomputers, rendering graphics so that your computer won’t have to. In an interview with US Gamer, Google’s Director for Games Business Development, Jack Buser, was able to share a few more details about the project. You can read all about the interview from US Gamer.
A lot of remarkable things have been said about Google Stadia, but thanks to the folks at US Gamer, we have a clearer picture of what Google intends to do and how they intend to do it. In the interview, Buser notes that the vision going forward is to think of Stadia as the way we would YouTube. We want to watch a video, we open up YouTube, look for it, and stream it - regardless of what device we’re on. Buser says that Stadia should be similar in that effect. We want to play a game - we open up a browser, or possibly a dedicated Stadia app, and we’ll be able to stream video games regardless of the platform we’re on.
When asked about people who don’t have access to high-speed internet or fiber lines, Buser commented “ A wise person once said, ‘don't bet against the internet.’” Indeed, while not everyone has access to high-speed internet, the world is rapidly changing. It’s fair to assume that even if Stadia isn’t going to be accessible to everybody right this minute, it eventually will be.
There’s a whole lot more that the folks over at US Gamer talked about with Google’s Jack Buser. They talked about the possibility of first-party titles, possible pricing systems, and the application of cutting edge technology in the gaming industry. While we’re getting excited over the potential unique experiences that are now possible given the availability of technology, we’d like to know what you think? Is Stadia a step in the right direction? Will it make the gaming industry more accessible, or will it make video gaming even more exclusive than it is now? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
