Google Stadia: information, features, release and games

On the occasion of Game Developers Conference of 2019, the colossus of Mountain View also known as Google has released the first information on what will be its first major project in the world of video games.

Today we talk about everything we know about Google Stadia, Google's first relevant project within the gaming industry.

Following the official presentation of June 6, 2019, we update this article with all the most interesting information given by Google within the conference.

Index

Google Stadia launch titles announced
It will take some time to see the Stadia exclusives.
Google Stadia release date revealed
Network requirements to use Google Stadia?
What types of subscriptions are there for Google Stadia?
Where can I play with Google Stadia?
Google Stadia: Founder's Edition Pack
Google Stadia: Premiere Edition Pack
What games will be available at the launch of Stadia?

 

Google Stadia June Keynote
Where to watch the Google Yeti presentation?
What time does the streaming of the Google Stadia project start?
What is Google Stadia?
Google Stadia
The technical characteristics of Google Stadia
What connection do I need to use Google Stadia?
When will Google Stadia come out?
How much will Google Stadia cost?
What games will run on Google Stadia?
What will the Google Stadia controller look like?
State Share and Crowd Share functions
How to use Google Stadia on your TV
What is Project Stream?
What rumors are around Google Yeti?

Google Stadia launch titles announced

Google has officially announced which titles it will launch its Game Streaming service, one of the main novelties of this 2019 videogame. The entry of the Mountain View giant into the video game industry will be accompanied by some different video games, all already known and already celebrated in other locations.

In total, Google's Game Streaming service will have twelve video games from its launch, not a particularly high figure if we compare it to the almost thirty games that arrived between digital and the shelf during the start of the Playstation 4 life cycle. Despite the twelve games announced by the company are all already more than released around, you will have the real opportunity to try to the maximum possible technical potential of greedy video games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 or Shadow Of The Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition.

Here is the list of all the video games that will be possible to try on Google Stadia starting from November nineteenth:

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft)
  
• Destiny 2: The Collection (Bungie)
  
• GYLT (Tequila Softworks)
  
• Just Dance 2020 (Ubisoft)
  
• China ()
  
• Mortal Kombat 11  (Warner Bros Interactive)
  
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
  
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (Square Enix)
  
• SAMURAI SHODOWN (SNK)
  
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Square Enix)
  
• Thumper (Drool)
  
• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Square Enix)
  

If you've had a shiver of terror reading such a skimpy list, don't worry, Google has already stated that the line up of titles for Stadia will eventually double by the end of the year with the addition of high-caliber video games such as Final Fantasy. XV, Borderlands 3 or Metro Exodus. By the end of this year, Google Stadia will essentially allow its buyers to play 26 different titles, with even more choice during the first few months of the coming year.

Here is the list of video games that will arrive on Stadia by the end of 2019:

• Attack On Titan 2: Final Battle
• Borderlands 3 (here's ours review!) (2K)
• Darksiders Genesis (Deep Silver)
• Dragonball Xenoverse 2 (Bandai Namco)
• Farming Simulator 19 (Giants Software)
• Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix)
• Football Manager 2020 (Now)
• Ghost Recon Breakpoint (here's ours review!) (Ubisoft)
• Grid (Codemasters)
• Metro Exodus (Deep Silver)
• NBA 2K20 (2K)
• Rage 2 (here's ours review!) (Bethesda Softworks)
• Trials Rising (here's ours review!) (Ubisoft)
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood (here's ours review!) (Bethesda Softworks)

[UPDATE]

Google announced that it has added ten video games to its launch lineup, resulting in twenty-two games initially available. The company has plausibly inserted this new batch of titles as a reaction to Microsoft's announcements made during the Microsoft X019 in London a few days ago, where the Redmond company confirmed that the game streaming platform made in Microsoft called XCloud will have 50 full games at launch and will also have integrations with the well-known game pass subscription.

Although there is currently no information regarding a subscription made by Google, here is the new complete list of video games that will be available at Google Stadia at launch.

These are the titles in question:

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft)
  
• Destiny 2: The Collection (Bungie)
  
• GYLT (Tequila Softworks)
  
• Just Dance 2020 (Ubisoft)
  
• China ()
  
• Mortal Kombat 11  (Warner Bros Interactive)
  
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
  
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (Square Enix)
  
• SAMURAI SHODOWN (SNK)
  
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Square Enix)
  
• Thumper (Drool)
  
• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Square Enix)
• Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle (Koei Tecmo)
• Farming Simulator 19 (Focus Home Interactive)
• Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix)
• Football Manager 2020 (SEGA)
• GRID (Codemasters)
• Metro Exodus (Deep Silver)
• NBA 2K20 (2K Games)
• Rage 2 (Bethesda Softworks)
• Trials Rising (Ubisoft)
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood (Bethesda Softworks)

Titles in bold, Destiny 2: the collection at Bungie e Samurai Showdown SNK will among other things be available free of charge from day one; SNK's fighting game on the Japanese Middle Ages is an absolute novelty in this sense since it will be a perfect test bed to discover the problems related to the latency of the platform. A competitive piacchiaduro is in fact an excellent way to test the problems concerning the latency in the response to commands from Google Stadia since, in the event of high latency, the entire play apparatus and not only the visual aspect of the game would pay the consequences. title due to artifacts or mystifications due to video compression.

 

It will take some time to see the Stadia exclusives

Just under a month is missing from the arrival of Stadia in the homes of wealthy users who have made the preorder; the latter will allow people to harness the power of Google's data centers to play video games at the highest possible quality, without having to worry about hardware and various issues.

Of course, there have already been controversies (which you can read below) regarding the non-arrival of Google Stadia at Day one or the problems concerning the Stadia Controller and its alleged exclusive compatibility with the Chromecast Ultra, but there has not yet been clear talk of which video games will be released exclusively on Google Stadia and how many will intelligently use the exclusive features of having infinite computing power available.

For the moment, video games such as Assassin's Creed Odyssey o red dead redemption, titles capable of bringing even the most powerful and well-bodied computers to their knees but still nothing that can really scratch the technological road-dominion in terms of computing power of cloud computing. The internal development studio set up by Google, led by the same Jade Raymond who produced the first Assassin's Creed, declared during the first stirrings of the Stadia project that it needed something like four years to be able to talk about video games and exclusives on the platform.

According to what Raymond released to Gamesindustry.biz, Google has a place for its titles but has no release dates because it has a priority list to respect. The first titles to come out on the platform will be the third-party ones, ie video games already present elsewhere; when Google is satisfied with these, it will also start publishing second party titles, that is, independent video games developed with the support and help of the Mountain View giant.

When these also reach the level of quality and quantity desired by Google, we will move on to the development of first-party video games, i.e. all those video games developed internally by Google and by the development teams within it. It will take four years for Jade Raymon to see any of them work on the platforms, and more exclusives will come out every year, in increasing amounts from year to year.

For Google, the Stadia project is not something to be completed in one click but a marathon in which not to end up exhausted; the company is prepared for this and is ready to bet whatever is necessary to demonstrate to everyone the power of its infrastructure.

“To demonstrate the power of our cloud computer system will come a new big IP and an equally big bet, things that will still take years of work. Don't worry in any case, some of the games that will arrive over the next few years will make you understand the potential of our project. For now we want to focus on independent video games developed with our support, perhaps also exploiting the exclusive features of Stadia such as integration with Youtube and with content creators "

Google Stadia Controller, wireless functionality and USB-C cabling: brief explanation.

An update of the official Google Stadia page linked to the system requirements has rectified some facts and confirmed some fears. Google has specified that at launch the Stadia Controller can be used without cables only through the presence of a Chromecast Ultra connected to the television in its Setup; all other devices that can support the service must be connected to the controller through a classic USB C cable.

As revealed during the month of July, Google has reconfirmed that at launch the Stadia controller will not be able to transmit game audio through the use of bluetooth headphones and the only output device that will be usable will be one with a jack connection. 3.5 mm (the classic headphones that we all know). On PC and Mobile, on the other hand, the headphones can be connected via bluetooth to the device using the latter's chips and licenses; it is not said that in the future this can also be done directly on the controller.

Google Stadia release date revealed

Google has officially announced the release date of Google Stadia, ending a silence that lasted nine months in which the small revolution of game streaming has grown in the womb of the company. Google Stadia Founder's Edition will become available from 19 November 2019. Anyone who pre-ordered the Google Stadia Founder's Edition will be able to play Red Dead Redemption 2 e Mortal Kombatt 11 comfortably on compatible devices starting from 18.00 in the afternoon of November 19th.

Both the Google Stadia Founder's Edition and the Google Stadia Premiere Edition will be shipped in order to reach users' homes during that day. Shortly after the start of shipments, Google will take care to send a code to activate their Stadia and Stadia Pro account to all buyers of the service.

We remind all readers that Google Stadia Founder's Edition and Google Stadia Premiere Edition are almost identical; the founder's edition will arrive at the user's home with an exclusive Night Blue controller while the premiere edition will arrive at home with a Clearly Whyte color controller. Google Stadia Founder's Edition will also come home with a buddy pass; the latter will allow a user to enjoy three months of Google Stadia without necessarily having to purchase the aforementioned package. Other exclusive content of Google Stadia Founder's Edition is linked to the possibility of booking the nickname to be used in game with the various titles.

Here is a list with some of the titles that will be available at the launch of the platform:

Here is the list of games that will be available at launch.

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Ubisoft
• Borderlands 3 - 2K
• The Crew 2 - Ubisoft
• Destiny 2 - Bungie
• Doom - Bethesda Softworks
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 - Bandai Namco
• The Elder Scrolls Online - Bethesda Softworks
• Farming Simulator 19 - Giants Software
• Final Fantasy 15 - Square Enix
• Football Manager - Sega
• Get Packed - Coatsink
• GRID - Codemasters
• Gylt - Tequila Works
• Just Dance - Ubisoft
• Metro Exodus - Deep Silver
• Mortal Kombat 11 - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• NBA 2K - 2K
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid - nWay Games
• Rage 2 - Bethesda Softworks
• Rise of the Tomb Raider - Square Enix
• Samurai Shodown - SNK
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Square Enix
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint - Ubisoft
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2 - Ubisoft
• Tomb Raider Definitive Edition - Square Enix
• Thumper - Drool
• Trials Rising - Ubisoft
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood - Bethesda Softworks

Following the launch, thanks to Game Trials, Google will offer about one free game per month for all Stadia Pro users and with the arrival of 2020 this feature can also be used by non-paying users, with a very limited selection of video games .

Network requirements to use Google Stadia

Let's start from the basics: we know that Google Stadia is a streaming only service that allows a user to play a video game through the use of the computing power of the Big G data centers.

To be able to use this service at its best, you will obviously need a respectable connection, just like with streaming services such as Netflix or similar. Stadia, depending on the available bandwidth, will adapt dynamically by proposing different audio and video resolution.

In particular we have:

• 10 Mbps: This is the minimum connection required and will guarantee video games a 60 frames per second with 720p resolution e stereo quality audio.
• 20 Mbps: This download speed will ensure that you can play Google Stadia at one 1080p resolution with HDR a 60 frames per second, using a audio Surround 5.1.
• 35 Mbps: This speed is the one to get the best experience ever with Google Stadia; thanks to it it is possible to play resolution 4K with HDR a 60 frames per second, using Audio Surround 5.1

In order to know if your connection is suitable for the use of Google Stadia, you can click on this address to run a test that can estimate the quality your connection is capable of generating.

 Negative input lag? Google's idea to break down connection problems.

We all know that the arrival of Google Stadia will represent a decisive step towards the future for the world of video games. As can be guessed by anyone who has surfed the internet for more than a few days, placing something so big directly on the shoulders of your connection brings with it a series of problems that vary from place to place. We are talking about connection speeds, data caps (or maximum download limits) that could be exceeded following the enormous data traffic of Stadia and a decreasing sense of ownership of things.

One of the problems that perhaps is closest to video game players is that of input lag, or the time between entering a command and the display of that command on the screen. The Mountain View company to try to solve this problem announced in an interview with PcGamesn to be working on a system to minimize time through negative latency.

What does this mean?

I snuck into the Stadia HQ and took a picture of their “Negative Latency” tech. pic.twitter.com/5b98dC6H5u

— Wout – The Hashtagonist (@TheHashtag0nist) October 9, 2019

No, no sensory deprivation tanks; Google doesn't seem to intend to do anything before the player hits the button, nor does it seem to intend to do how Lineage II: Revolution which is practically played alone; it is just a matter of shortening the distances between data centers and users' computers.

Computer engineer Garret Cooper tried to explain this a IGN:

“There will always be some kind of latency in sending data to a machine; I hypothesize that Google to overcome a similar problem has thought of a method to prepare these data in the best possible way. If they manage to prepare the data by skipping steps, they can reduce latency, hence their talk of negative latency which has more value linked to marketing than to the actual solution adopted "

Madj Bakar, vice president of the engineering department that deals with the thing, in an interview with Edge (the one reported by Pcgamesn) talked about how this revolutionary negative latency system should work. Basically, in order to predict the player's actions and correctly address the data, Google's data centers will end up calculating extra frames for each player's action.

Let's take an example: the player, at a given moment, can choose whether to jump, run left, right or go back; Google Stadia exploiting the power of its data centers will try to pre-render some frames of each of these possible roads separately and then choose which one to show to the player. To do this it will use machine learning and databases, in order to understand which series of frames to send on the player's screen. This is essentially anticipation of input to the nth degree and, as much as Google wants it to appear as a revolutionary technology, it is nothing more than the refinement of tricks already used for decades in the world of video games in one way or another.

Il Build Engine of 3D Software already used some rudiments of input prediction to decrease the operational load on the CPU and GPU and in the online world there are numerous applications that try to do a similar thing to mitigate connection problems due to ping. Fighting online fans will know software like GGPO and software like retroarch they are slowly adding to their bow, arrows like that of the input prediction. The substantial difference is in the environment of use, this time linked to three dimensions instead of two.

GGPO, for example, works in a very similar way to the one we described above: the software essentially predicts the actions of other players within the title and calculates the results. Based on the actions of the real player, the program then tries to adapt. Google Stadia plausibly will do the same but thanks to the infinitely superior computing power, it will try to predict a huge amount of other results without having to do back-and-forth with the server; the packets that Google sends to the player's computer will contain the results of multiple frames instead of just one frame. Second Arstechnica a similar streaming methodology had already been tested during the past years directly by Microsoft and what we could see on the screen today thanks to Google Stadia is none other than this concept reiterated to the nth degree.

Where is the catch?
Obviously in any errors. In case of server errors, transmission problems or bad predictions, the screen may become blurry for a few milliseconds or there may be a rubberbanding phenomenon, in which some frames go faster than others to try to solve the problem. The point is that this would easily displease competitive players who would continue not to see in Google Stadia the right platform for their way of understanding competitive gaming, tending to prefer video games run locally instead of on Google's data centers. Although we are talking about problems that could last milliseconds, the timing for certain choices or moves moves on very similar units of time and is not ignorable.

One of the doubts that most come to the mind of gamers and professionals is instead linked to the technical limit. Rendering out five frames instead of one for each frames projected on the screen will be five times more expensive in terms of resources than previously done and could be a real limitation even on the expensive and very powerful Google data centers. The calculation will be processed through the cloud but it is legitimate to wonder how much it will cost to Google to apply this type of structure in order to eliminate the input lag and if the game will be worth the candle. Calculating five frames instead of one will be expensive from the point of view of resources but it can be a feasible effort given the google name behind it, it is important that everything is perfect in the end.

Two schools of thought could emerge from Google Stadia: one in which video games are optimized for input prediction and one in which video games are developed to make the most of all the power that Google would use in that case, perhaps giving the go-ahead. to a new series of triple A video games, one in which there are no technical limits that cloud computing cannot address once the technical skills of one of the most important companies in the world are in place.

Think of video games in which, despite an input lag of a few tens of milliseconds, you have the opportunity to have a world completely at the mercy of your powers, where all objects are destructible and where in general there is no longer a need to think. to make fog appear in order to shorten the horizon. A new way to conceive the gameplay, without thinking about the validity of the polygonal models or the power of the choice made at that moment. From a purely playful point of view, such a paradigm could open the way to open worlds that are never so interesting and never so interactive but also never so empty; there is the risk that the procedural will succumb under the weight of the game systems, there is the risk that the magic of the messages packaged through the "corridor levels" will end up drowning.

What types of subscriptions are there for Google Stadia?

Google Stay, at launch, it will only have one type of subscription available from its caller Stages Pro.

Stadia per offers the following features:

• Resolution up to 4K
• Framerate anchored at 60
• Audio Surround 5.1
• Constantly updated catalog with a selection of titles available for free.
• Possibility to play for free the Destiny 2 Collection, the definitive version of the bungie title with all the DLCs (Curse Of Osiris, Wartime, Forsaken and the new Shadowkeep).
• Possibility to buy the titles on a dedicated store at any time.
• Exclusive discounts on this store
• Price: $ 9.99 per month (Euro price has not yet been announced)

Stadia Pro in essence, it allows the owners of a connection worthy of the name to play more or less recent video games for free without having to buy the games themselves; in case of specific titles not present in the catalog it will be necessary to go and buy the same directly in the store.

A second subscription called Stadia Base

Stadia Base will offer the following features:

• Resolution up to 1080p
• Framerate anchored at 60FPS
• Stereo audio
• Fixed catalog, without updates over time
• Possibility to buy the titles on a dedicated store at any time.
• Price: free

Where can I play with Google Stadia?

Google Stadia will allow players to bring their favorite video game to a huge number of devices, including those that are unable to play video games.

Here's where you can play Google Stadia

• Sul Television: to play with Google Stadia on your home TV you will need to have three different requirements: it Stadia Controller, for an Google Chromecast Ultra andApp Stadia, available for free on the stores Android e iOS.
  According to the faq of Google Stay, previous versions of the Chromecast will not be compatible with Google Stadia.
• Sul computer: to play with Google Stadia on your computer it will be necessary to have only the Google Chrome browser updated to the latest version. It is not mandatory to own it on a PC Stadia Controller given the compatibility of normal input methods such as mouse and keyboard o controller Dualshock 4/controller Xbox One
• On your own Smartphones: to be able to play with Google Stadia on your smartphone you need to have, for the moment, either Google Pixel 3 or Google Pixel 3a. On smartphones, all controllers, including dualshock 4 or Xbox One controllers, will be compatible with the device.

Google Stadia: Founder's Edition Pack

Google has announced the presence of a package called Founder's Edition for all those who intend to support the service.

The founder's edition pack is a limited time offer and contains the following items:

• A Night Blue exclusive edition Stadia Controller
• Chromecast Ultra
• 3 Months of Stadia PRO subscription
• 3 Months of Stadia Pro subscriptions to give to a friend (Buddy Pass)
• Exclusive Badge
• Possibility of being able to book the nickname to be used within the service.
• Price: 15,000.00 €

The package is available in limited numbers and can be ordered at this link.

 

Google Stadia: Premier Edition Package

Google announced a new package concerning Google Stadia available at googlestore, this package will definitively replace the aforementioned Google Stadia Founders Edition after the stocks of the latter have run out (which will happen quite soon in America and Canada since in Europe the sold-out has already taken place, at least according to the statements made by Google to IGN).

La Premier Edition (this is the name of the bundle) is currently bookable on Google Store and has very similar contents to those proposed by Founder's Edition. The price of the two versions is practically the same but the new package has some shortcomings and some changes regarding the objects that are included in the offer.

Google Stadia Premier Edition includes within it the usual Chromecast Ultra necessary to be able to use the streaming service on your TV, a controller Google Stadia in color Clearly White (the NIght Blue color of the founder's edition will remain exclusive to those who pre-ordered that version) and a three-month subscription to Google Stadia Pro.

Missing is the Buddy Pass, that is the possibility for the buyer to share their subscription with a friend to play for three months completely free. The other absences concern the exclusive badge for buyers of the founder's edition (and ok, we'll get a reason) and the possibility of reserve your username in advance.

Google Stadia Premier Edition will allow its buyers to access the Mountain View company's services shortly after the preview release of Stadia and it will eventually become the best way to start using the service after the founder'e edition is removed from the market. There are no risks regarding the impossibility of accessing the service, only the exclusive contents of the offer remain outside the offer Founder’s Edition.

Few information regarding the possible release date of the Premier Edition; a Google representative contacted by several American newspapers confirmed that soon they will announce a precise date for the release of the servicesor but he has also hinted that other rather interesting information will come with it; that Does Google have a surprise of some kind in store for us users?

There are no variations of any kind on the line up of titles that can be accessed by purchasing the Founder's Edition or Premier Edition; both versions of the service will ask the player to purchase the necessary licenses for the whole operation on a separate store. Destiny 2 it will be the only game to be free during the very first period of the service and will presumably be followed by other titles going forward with the months.

What games will be available at the launch of Stadia?

Google, during its Keynote, confirmed the presence of about thirty video games for the launch of Google Stadia; we do not yet know which of these will be available for free thanks to the stadia pro subscription.

The company has received the support of many developers including Square Enix, Ubisoft and Bandai Namco; obviously they will not be the only ones and the carnet of developers joining Stadia could increase dramatically over the next few months with equally important names such as Rockstar, Electronic Arts or Capcom.

Here is the list of games that will be available at launch.

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Ubisoft
• Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios
• Borderlands 3 - 2K
• The Crew 2 - Ubisoft
• Darksiders Genesis - THQ Nordic
• Destiny 2 - Bungie
• Doom - Bethesda Softworks
• Doom Eternal - Bethesda Softworks
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 - Bandai Namco
• The Elder Scrolls Online - Bethesda Softworks
• Farming Simulator 19 - Giants Software
• Final Fantasy 15 - Square Enix
• Football Manager - Sega
• Get Packed - Coatsink
• GRID - Codemasters
• Gylt - Tequila Works
• Just Dance - Ubisoft
• Metro Exodus - Deep Silver
• Mortal Kombat 11 - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• NBA 2K - 2K
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid - nWay Games
• Rage 2 - Bethesda Softworks
• Rise of the Tomb Raider - Square Enix
• Samurai Shodown - SNK
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Square Enix
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint - Ubisoft
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2 - Ubisoft
• Tomb Raider Definitive Edition - Square Enix
• Thumper - Drool
• Trials Rising - Ubisoft
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood - Bethesda Softworks

What happens if a publisher withdraws their title from Google Stadia?

As stated by Google in its FAQ, its Stadia platform will have the particularity of permeating always the player to play purchased titles, even if they disappear from the store due to licensing problems or similar flaws. According to Google, outside of unforeseeable circumstances, Stadia will always allow players to use the titles they have purchased, even if the latter prove to be unavailable to the eyes and wallets of other players.

Will Google Stadia Support Multiplayer Titles?

Also within the aforementioned FAQs, Google has confirmed that its Stadia platform will fully support multiplayer video games, including the so-called sofa or couch coops video games. It will be possible to connect up to four Google Stadia controllers to be able to play local multiplayer. These controllers use the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to configure themselves but subsequently connect via the normal wifi during the gameplay phases. In any case, Stadia Controllers can be connected to devices such as phones, tablets or PCs through cables with USB-C outputs.

Will Google Stadia also arrive on other mobile phones in the future?

Yes, Google in its FAQ has stated that at the time of the release of the service it will be possible to use staff for Gaming only on Pixel 3, Pixel3a (3a, 3aXL, 3 and 3XL) and on tablets that support Chrome OS. However, the company is working on expanding the compatibility of the service to a lot of other devices. It will be possible to buy the titles available on Google Stadia from any mobile phone with iOS11 + or Android m +, or with the minimum operating system necessary to run the Stadia application.

Will Google Stadia Support Virtual Reality on Smartphones?

At the moment, Google has stated that it has nothing to say about virtual reality support related to the world of mobile phones. The future may hold some kind of surprises.

 

[UPDATE] June Keynote on Google Stadia

Write down the date, the June 6 2019, beforeE3 the price and release date of the Online gaming platform will be announced Google Stadia.

Where to watch the Google Yeti presentation?

Anyone wishing to follow the streaming related to the Keynote of the GDC can do it simply from the channel Youtube di Google.

What time does the streaming of the Google Stadia project start?

The colossus of Mountain View announced that the presentation related to its new gaming project will begin at 10 a.m. PDT, or at 18.00 Spanish time.

What is Google Stadia?

According to rumors Google Yeti it will be a console or some type of streaming service related to the world of video games, along the lines of the Project Stream which allowed some lucky ones to play in 2018 Assassin's Creed Odyssey directly on your browser.

The project Google Yeti first appeared on the web following rumors about joypads with the brand name big G, later a very cryptic teaser trailer was put on by the company Youtube, simply reporting the date of the conference of the GDC.

The link of the project to the world of streaming gaming is a rather interesting path because, among the numerous companies trying to carry out this project, Google is the one with the best distributed infrastructures in the world. The large presence of such infrastructures would allow any streaming made in Google to be almost latency-free, a defect that afflicts many other services of the kind and that is felt substantially when you have a connection that is not particularly performing.

Google Stadia

The official name of the project Google Yeti è Google Stay, a new platform that will bring together players, youtubers and developers.

This platform will work through the massive presence of the data centers of Google scattered all over the world and is the first example of a full streaming console.
During the conference Google Phil Harrison (old face of Sony e Microsoft) underlined how the goal of Stadia is to bring the world of gaming everywhere, to any type of consumer and without worrying about hardware barriers. the platform was created with the idea of ​​bringing together two worlds: the world of those who play and the world of those who love to watch other video games, while removing all other barriers.

Stadia will be a service perfectly integrated with some of the most important platforms of Google like Google Assistant o Youtube; this will allow Google to expand a little more and to grab a large sector of entertainment today by making the best possible use of all the infrastructures it possesses.

Basically we have a new gaming platform that gives the player instant access to their favorite games on any type of screen: Stadia works on TV, Laptop, Desktop, Tablet or mobile. The company's goal is to make games available through the power of the cloud platform at the highest possible quality. The goal is to provide gamers with titles up to 4K resolution, with HDR and surround sound.

The platform will be released in the US, Canada, the UK and most of Europe.

The technical characteristics of Google Stadia

During the Keynote course dedicated to the new Google platform, some of the technicalities that hide behind the mammoth project were explained.

Google Stadia will run on computers present in the company's databases around the world; will be animated by a But by the full GPU acceleration tech custom made by AMD (who also took care of the But by the full GPU acceleration tech di Xbox One e Playstation 4) who will be able to bestow 10.7 teraflops of power (double of Playstation 4 Pro and 40% in more than Xbox One X). This form will be accompanied by a custom x86 processor clocked a 2.7 GHz with hyperthreading and technology AVX2 and 16 GB of RAM memory.

This configuration will be scalable and can work in parallel with other examples of Google Stadia to run the games requested by users directly on Google's data centers. At the time of this writing, Google has stated that within Stadia the games will initially run at 1080p 60FPS and 4K 60FPS, based on the connection of the player; in the future you will also have the possibility of being able to scale the resolution up to 8K 60FPS and beyond. Video cards made by AMD they will have full support for libraries Volcano, which has long been an alternative to the world Direct X in order to meet development needs.

The multiplayer games sector will be managed internally by Google's servers which will take care of hosting the games; the wiring in Google Fiber according to what the company has declared it should put a serious remedy to the lag problem and the presence of a anti cheat internal to servers it will mean being able to play without having to encounter unpleasant surprises.

What connection do I need to use Google Stadia?

One of the most important questions that arose during the presentation of the new Google platform concerns the power of the connection necessary for everything to work. According to what was declared by Phil Harrison in his interview with Kotaku, the requirement minimum to be respected to get one 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second it's a connection with speed 25 megabits per second.

Technically it is possible to obtain these results even with a slightly less powerful connection but according to the tests made by Google PA similar number of megabits per second is required for optimal results. Fortunately, according to what has been stated, to obtain an experience a resolution 4K you will need a connection to yourself 30 megabit thanks to a significant number of improvements that have been made over the last few years by the engineers of Google in regards to the world of streaming and compression.

The Google platform, in any case, it is scalable and it also works with connections that have speeds other than the recommended one; it simply cannot be expected a Full HD experience but rather experiences 720p, 480p and so on.

When will Google Stadia come out?

But when it comes Stadia?

How many years will we have to wait for such a project?
Listen Listen, Stadia will be available by the end of 2019, precisely.

Phil Harrinson in fact he explained, during the presentation, that Google he worked privately and in great secrecy a Stadia for several years, and therefore the platform is already ready for launch. More information will be released this summer, likely ahead of theE3.

How much will Google Stadia cost?

within the Keynote area of Game Developers Conference 2019 The Mountain View company has not released any statement regarding the cost of Google Stadia, nor on its monetization methods. Most likely Google Stadia it will be a subscription service, exactly like Netflix, and will have a price not particularly dissimilar to that of its competitors Xbox Game Pass, Playstation Now e EA Access; between ten and twenty euros monthly.

As it stated by Phil Harrison during the interview with my box, the prices surrounding the new Google project will be made official during the summer period.

What games will run on Google Stadia?

The colossus of Mountain View through his teaser trailer showed a series of different settings usually linked to the playful world that could be clues regarding the first types of games that we will find within his project gaming-related.

From the rumors and some data released in the course of the financial reports we know for sure that Google is developing some video games internally through the creation of development studies with professionals in the sector hired starting from other software houses.

Two perfect examples of this are Phil Harrison e Jade Raymond.

The former is a true veteran of the industry who has worked in both Sony in that Microsoft on projects Playstation e Xbox; currently Harrison he is the head of the division that is working on the project Google Yeti.

The second is a well-known face of the industry and has worked as a producer in numerous video games branded Ubisoft, churning out commercially successful products like Assassin's Creed o Watch Dogs.

At the head of the project there is Jade Raymond, ex-developer of Ubisoft who worked on the chapters of Assassin's Creed up to 2015, to then drive visceral Games in the development of the famous title of Star Wars before the company was dismantled by IT'S AT.

Raymond he explained that Stadia will bring a real new generation to video games, communicating his enthusiasm for the enormous potential of the project.
Stadia it will be based on servers Google and that will offer incredible computing power

The only limitation there will be, he explains Raymond, it will be our own imagination.
Raymond this is the ideal period for developers, who can count on the complete support of Google e Stadia thanks to its tools and systems for direct communication with gamers presented among the functions of Stadia.

At the moment we have been able to see three different titles at work on Google Stadia: Assassin’s Creed Odissey,  NBA 2K19 e Eternal Doom; during the conference we were also able to see a large series of tech demos designed to show the world the graphics power of the platform, its scalability and the possibilities that the platform has regarding the multiplayer sector.

As it stated by Phil Harrison during an interview with Kotaku conducted by Jason Schreier the platform will never see a totally physical version of it, imitating the consoles we are used to seeing.

What will the Google Yeti controller look like?

Over the past few days we have had the opportunity to talk about the rendering of the controller thought by Google and we wrote a above article.

According to the information circulating on the web, this controller will be able to interact with the user in an innovative way using a wide range of solutions: a notification system, for example, could contact the owner to update him on all the events that occurred during the his absence from the platform or he could show him some options within the universe of the game without letting him detach from the TV.

Curiously, over the past few days we have also been able to witness an update of Google Chrome which will allow the popular browser to also support the otherwise exclusive joy-con a Nintendo Switch.

Google Stadia will have a dedicated controller, very similar to the one shown in the renders of the past days. In addition to the classic setting coming up with Playstation e Xbox, the controller of Xbox Stadia will have two dedicated buttons: one dedicated to Google Assistant and one dedicated to share su Youtube.

The controller of Google Stadia it will be wireless but it will not be mandatory to access the service, according to the statements made by Google there will be a wide range of controllers compatible with the service that will allow gamers to have what they prefer in their hand. Google's proprietary controller will be the only way to use the platform if you intend to play through a TV and Google Chromecast, on PCs and other devices it will be possible to use the other controllers commonly found in the video game market today.

State Share and Crowd Share functions

An important function useful for many streamers and content creators will be the Crowd Play.
This new mode will allow you to invite viewers to join a queue to directly play the broadcast they are watching.

In this way, the gap between spectator and player decreases more and more, instead bringing fans much closer to their favorites.

A curious and very useful function, especially for developers, will be it StateShare.
This is nothing more than the possibility of capturing an image of your session, connect the link of the game on Stadia and allow anyone who sees the screenshot to connect immediately to the game starting from that precise moment of the capture.

It is not just screen shots, but also entire gameplay published on social networks and YouTube: whoever owns Stadia will be able to relive that exact situation and experience the same emotions as those who captured them for the first time. This feature is an absolute novelty in the gaming world that has never before reached such a level of interaction with content creators.

How to use Google Stadia on the TV

Phil Harrison during the interview with Kotaku also released some information regarding the possibility of using Google Stadia through any type of television. The basic requirements to be able to use the streaming platform on your home TV are two: you must have the Chromecast, a particular USB device that turns any type of TV into smart and you must have the exclusive Stadia controller, the only one to be compatible with the technology used with the Chromecast.

What is Project Stream?

Project Stream is a project that Google has been carrying out for several months in which it allowed selected users to play a specific video game through the use of a simple Google Chrome card.

The advantage of the streaming gaming is to allow users without specific gaming hardware to play using the computing power of google servers, using their connection only to download the data necessary for playing.

What rumors are around Google Yeti?

The hype around the Google Yeti it is a great deal and, as in any event of great importance, there are just as many rumors that have occurred over the past few days regarding the content of the confenrence.

One of the official data we have concerns the software houses that will participate in the reveal of the console: Jason Schreier (one of the most important pens of Kotaku and videogame journalism) suggested that on the stage of the Keynote representatives of software houses such as Ubisoft, Id Software e Crystal Dynamics (!!!), while the presence of amy hennig, author of the series of Uncharted.

Ubisoft, for example, it could be there because one of the titles advertised through Project Stream was his Assassin's Creed Odyssey; much more mysterious are the reasons that will bring names like Crystal Dynamics e id Software south stage.

The only practically certain information on the matter Google Yeti is the promise made by the company with its trailer: I want to present the future of gaming

This future of gaming could be represented by the possibility that Google will give its users to play through streaming on practically any type of hardware: PC, Mac, smartphones, televisions and so on.

This will be done through one special controller which will be compatible with practically everything and which will contain, inside, the hardware needed to process the information for streaming.

As it stated by Screamers Google's project is particularly ambitious and will tear down some of the walls that have characterized the world of video games up to now such as the presence of physical support or the presence of loading times.

Some rumors speak of truly incredible functions that are absolute novelties for the world of video games; the American journalist reports it the two within his article:

• The first examines a gamer who is watching a content creator in streaming. According to Schreier, it will be possible for the player to buy the title and download a save which, when loaded, will start the game near what was previously seen in the streaming.
• Another function always examines the very fertile world of streaming and will allow the player to enter directly into the game of the content creator he is observing, also here clearly cutting the bridges with the past made up of installations, questions and times of Research.

A final, interesting rumor, talks about how Google's new system could interestingly integrate with YouTube; going parallel to your gameplay, a walkthrough on the platform to help us in times of difficulty in case of a request for help from the player.