Google to launch its new cloud gaming service Stadia to 14 countries in November at $9.99 a month starting off with 31 popular gaming titles
Google previously gave us a glimpse of their upcoming cloud gaming service – Google Stadia. This is a revolutionary tech that was questioned when it was originally introduced and now the company has fully revealed of its specs, price and features offered by Stadia.
Stadia, an Alphabet Inc. unit was originally unveiled in March and finally, it will be open for users in November. Google has partnered with major game developers like EA, Bethesda, Capcom, Square Enix, Ubisoft Entertainment SA, Bungie Inc. and others.
To get access to Stadia’s library of games you will have to subscribe to Stadia Pro that will cost $9.99 (Rs 690 approx) a month while the free version will let you buy games outright and play them on any device with Chrome installed.
The list of countries includes the US, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Sadly, India will not be part of the first release but nevertheless, it will surely arrive soon.
The Stadia Pro will let you play up to 4K HDR resolution with a frame rate of 60 fps at 5.1 Surround Sound, on the other hand, the free Stadia Base will offer resolution support of up to 1080p with a frame rate of 60fps. The Stadia Base will be available from 2020 onwards.
Google also revealed the Google Stadia Founder’s Edition that costs $129 (Rs 8,900 approx) and it contains:
- limited-edition Night Blue Stadia controller,
- a Chromecast Ultra,
- three-month access to Stadia Pro,
- a Buddy Pass of Stadia Pro for three months,
- access to Destiny 2: The Collection.
Here’s some required info regarding streaming requirements and video bitrates:
Google promises to provide a steady 60fps 4K stream provided that you have a bitrate of 35Mbps. Most of the gamers will be interested in streaming games at 1080p, so you can stream them at 60fps if you have a bandwidth of 20Mbps.
Also, you can stream games at 720p at 60fps for a modest speed of 10Mbps. To sum up, you’ll be consuming 15.75GB per hour of 4K streaming, 9GB per hour of 1080p, or just 4.5GB per hour at 720p.
It was interesting to see Google teaming up with lot of game developers to bring the latest as well as popular old titles to Stadia. So, they have announced 31 games for the initial launch:
— Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
— Baldur’s Gate 3
— Borderlands 3
— Darksiders Genesis
— DOOM
— DOOM Eternal
— Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
— Farming Simulator 19
— Final Fantasy XV
— Football Manager
— Get Packed
— GRID
— GYLT
— Just Dance
— Metro Exodus
— Mortal Kombat 11
— NBA 2K
— Rage 2
— Rise of the Tomb Raider
— Samurai Shodown
— Shadow of the Tomb Raider
— The Crew 2
— The Elder Scrolls Online
— Thumper
— Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
— Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
— Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
— Trials Rising
— Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Most of these games are very popular and demanding, few of them like Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Doom Eternal, Borderlands 3 are the latest and even not yet released for gamers.
Phil Harrison, an industry veteran who now runs Google’s gaming division, said that the company has used such a technology to make streaming smoother even with middling connections. Also, the Multiplayer that requires even more bandwidth will be as fast as a single player, a spokesman said.
“We want to get to as many people as possible, but it’s not possible to reach everyone at the same time, so we start with the more core enthusiast gamers. We will surprise people with how low the bandwidth requirements are”
Phil Harrison
You can basically play using Stadia on any device provided you have Chrome, as well as on TVs (with a Chromecast Ultra and a Stadia controller), and yes on smartphones as well starting with Pixel 3, 3 XL, 3a and 3a XL as for now.
The Stadia controller will also be sold separately for $69, which will be available in 3 colours: Just Black, Clearly White, and Wasabi.
Want to know more about Stadia’s implementation? Check out:
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