Everything There’s To Know About Google Stadia

Without a doubt, the world of gaming has changed over the past few years, thanks to ever-advancing technology and high-speed internet speeds. The latest in the gaming market is cloud-based gaming services, with several companies introducing their platforms, including Google, Amazon, NVIDIA, and more. Google introduced its internet-based game streaming service in November 2019 called Stadia; since then, it has become one of the decisive game streaming platforms.

In a short while, Google Stadia has become a powerful platform for game streaming. Most people, whether interested in gaming or not, have heard the name one place or the other. However, it might be the case that people don’t know the specifics about Stadia, even those who use it extensively.

Therefore, we have brought to you almost everything related to Stadia from Google in this piece. We have tried to answer everything from what is stadia to how it works to subscription plans and supported devices. So, let’s start our discussion by answering what Stadia is.

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What is Google Stadia?

In layman’s terms, Stadia is a Google product enabling users to play video games on virtually any device via streaming from cloud servers hosted worldwide. Users won’t have to download these games. On the contrary, they can stream the games directly on their respective devices, provided they have a fast internet connection to support Stadia.

There is no denying the fact that modern games require top-notch processing power, and that’s where cloud streaming services like Stadia come into the picture. In fact, the primary benefit of using platforms like Stadia is that it removes the need to purchase an expensive PC or powerful next-gen console to play new games. Besides, Google’s game streaming service supports a long list of devices, including iPhones, Macbooks, Chromebooks, Chrome OS tablets, and Chromecasts.

Moreover, it is possible to use Stadia on your television with the help of the Chromecast Ultra. Moving forward, it can happen that some televisions with Google TV will come with in-built Stadia.

So, that was a brief description of what actually is Google Stadia, along with some other things. Now, let’s see the internal working of the streaming platform.

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How does Google Stadia works?

Stadia makes use of Google’s Data Centers across the world to let people stream games. The servers of Google are spread across 200 countries and territories.

Essentially, Google Stadia takes advantage of cloud technology and removes the need for physical discs and downloads to access significant titles. It renders games on a remote server instead of a local device and then streams games on the local machine as well as sends input of the controller to the server.

All of the above-mentioned things are made possible with the help of specialized GPUs. Google has struck a deal with AMD to build GPUs exclusive for its data centers with the capacity of delivering 10.7 teraflops of power. If you want a rough idea about how much 10.7 teraflops is, the Xbox One X is 6 teraflops. 

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Data usage and internet requirements

As discussed above, Stadia is a cloud-based streaming platform that requires a fast internet connection. Hence, it is evident that the better your speed is, the better will be your experience. In case if you want to know the exact facts and figures to run Stadia, here they are.

Google recommends at least 10Mbps of speeds to play games in 720p at 60FPS with stereo audio. On the other hand, if you have a 20Mbps internet connection, you can run things at 1080p, HDR, and 5.1 surround sound. However, the thing here is to note is that your TV needs to support HDMI eARC connections, and it should be attached to a suitable AV receiver to experience authentic surround sound.

However, if you want to experience the best gameplay at 4K, you need to have a 35 Mbps internet connection, at least, as per Google. What’s more, you should go for an Ethernet connection as it is far more consistent than a wireless one. To access games at 4K, you can either use a 4K TV using a Chromecast Ultra, or you can stream on stadia.com if your computer supports VP9 hardware decoding.

Moreover, you should keep in mind that, even if you have an internet connection to play games at 4K, you still need to have the bandwidth allowance to stream games for longer durations. According to Google, streaming games at 4K consumes 20 GB/ hour. On the other hand, 1080p burns up to 12.6 GB/ hour. Hence, you will need an unlimited internet plan to cope up with the data used by the gaming platform.

Now, you know what kind of internet connection you need to use Stadia. But a far more critical question is whether it is available in your country or not. If yes, which plan will best suit you, or can you use it without a subscription. We have tried answering these questions in the next section.

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Plans and Global availability

Membership

People are most often confused about whether you need a membership to use Stadia or not; the answer is no. No, you don’t need to subscribe to it to play games. Instead, you can buy and play games of your choice without a membership. That said, the Pro membership has its own benefits that are worth considering, particularly in case if you are planning to use Stadia regularly.

There are some differences between Stadia and Stadia Pro, the first of which is the quality of the game stream. Without becoming a Pro member, you can only stream at 1080p with stereo sound but at 60 FPS. On the other hand, Pro users can stream games at up to 4K quality at 60 FPS with 5.1 surround sound audio.

What’s more, Stadia Pro members can access the Stadia Pro library of games that can be added to your library for free. However, the same will be removed once you unsubscribe from Stadia. Plus, pro games can be downloaded at once, whereas usually, gaming memberships come with the condition that constrains free games to a two-week or one-month, at max. However, your games will be removed from your library after the end of your membership.

Lastly, with the Pro membership, you will have access to exclusive discounts on selected purchases, which is not the case if you don’t subscribe to Stadia.

Note: Google has already announced that it will soon be bringing 8K gaming at up to 12fps for Pro members.

Availability

The free or paid version of Stadia won’t matter if it not available in your country. Nevertheless, here is the list of countries where the services of the cloud-based gaming service are available.

• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States

Besides the countries mentioned above, Stadia is also available in Puerto Rico and Alaska. However, it is not available for the residents of Hawaii or Guam. On top of that, the controller for Stadia is not available for purchase in countries, including Romania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and others. 

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Supported Devices

Since the release of Stadia, it has grown considerably, growing to a broader range of phones, laptops, Chromebooks, and televisions. Even after the device is not on the official list of supported Stadia devices, there are ways to get around it and can still be able to use the service.

Let just look into the options:

Google Stadia on TVs

For now, you need to have a Chromecast Ultra and a Stadia controller to run it on your TV. Although the Ultra is generally out of stock as a standalone company, that means buying the Stadia Premiere Edition. You will also need to set up your Chromecast on your TV, which allows users to stream and use the Google Home app.

After that, you just need to install the stadia app on your device and sign in with a google account. Then this application will allow you to pair the stadia controller to the Chromecast ultra, and then you can play and enjoy your games on your TV.

Android phones supporting Google Stadia

Stadia can be installed easily in the below-stated Android devices:

The following OnePlus phone supports stadia:

• mainOnePlus 5, 6, 7, 7 Pro, 7 Pro 5G, 8, 8 Pro, 5T, 6T, 7T, 7T Pro, 7T Pro 5G, 8T, Nord, N10 5G, N100
• Razer Phone, Razer Phone II
• LG V50 ThinQ, V50S ThinQ, V60 ThinQ, G7 ThinQ, G8 ThinQ, Wing
• In pixel mobiles :Pixel 2, 2XL, 3, 3XL, 3a, 3a XL, 4, 4XL, 4a, 4a (5G), 5
• Samsung S8, S8+, S8 Active, Note 8, S9, S9+, Note 9, S10, S10+, Note 10, Note 10+, S20, S20+, S20 Ultra
• Asus ROG Phone, ROG Phone II, ROG Phone III
• Apart from that, you will need to have a google account with a signed up stadia account ( signed up for free or purchasing Premier Edition, or through Buddy Pass invitation) and a stadia app installed in your smartphone.

Google Stadia on iOS

Unfortunately, you cannot play games on iOS though there is a Stadia iOS app. However, it is there to help you stream titles that you own on your TV, as Apple has a very strict policy around not allowing apps that can compete with its App Store. Nevertheless, Google offers a legal workaround to help you stream games on iPhones and iPads via Safari web browser.

List of games that you can play on Google Stadia?

The list of games that can be streamed on Google Stadia will always be incomplete as Google has been adding support for new titles from time to time. Nevertheless, the already existing library of Stadia games is decent, mainly because you just need to have a fast internet connection, not a console or powerful PC, to enjoy these games.

Anyways, here is a list of major games that you can play the stream from day one.

• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Borderlands 3
• Cake Bash
• Celeste
• Create
• The Crew 2
• Darksiders Genesis
• Dead By Daylight
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
• The Division 2
• Destiny 2: The Collection
• Doom Eternal
• Doom 64
• EMBR
• Farming Simulator 19
• Final Fantasy 15
• Football Manager 2020
• Get Packed
• Ghost Recon Breakpoint
• Grid 2019
• Gunsport
• Gilt
• Just Dance 2020
• Hitman
• hitman 2
• Hotline Miami
• Hotline Miami 2
• Human Fall Flat
• Jotun: Valhalla Edition
• Just Shapes and Beat
• Kine
• Little Nightmares
• Lost Words: Beyond the Page
• Marvel’s Avengers
• Metro Exodus
• Metro: Last Light Redux
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
• Monster Energy Supercross
• Mortal Kombat 11
• MotoGP 20
• NBA 2K20
• NBA 2K21
• One Hand Clapping
• Octopath Traveler
• Orcs Must Die 3
• Panzer Dragoon
• PUBG
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• Rage 2
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Relicta
• Republique
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Rock of Ages 3: Make and Break
• Samurai Showdown
• Serious Sam Collection
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition 
• Spellings
• Stacks on Stacks
• SteamWorld Dig
• SteamWorld Dig 2
• Sundered: Eldritch Edition
• SteamWorld Heist
• SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamesh
• Superhot
• Superhot: Mind Control Delete
• Thumper
• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
• The Turing Test
• Trials Rising
• Wave Break
• West of Loathing
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood
• WWE Battlegrounds
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Chorus
• Cris Tales
• Create
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Destroy All Humans
• Elder Scrolls Online
• Kona
• Orcs Must Die! 3
• Windjammers 2
• Marvel’s Avengers
• Superhot Mind Control Delete
• Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
• FIFA
• Madden
• Watch Dogs: Legion
• Relicta
• Republique

Conclusion

Google Stadia and other platforms like it have brought another dimension to the gaming market. Earlier gamers used to mainly focus on buying top-notch hardware to play high-end games, but now they have another option that is to access the games through remote servers like Stadia.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that to access games, users need to have supported hardware like Chrome browser on PC, Chromecast on TV, or a dedicated Stadia app on Android devices. On top of that, users also need to consider if they want to buy Stadia Pro membership or they want to stream individual titles through the Stadia Pro membership is worth every penny.

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