Google Enters the Game Industry

The idea of streaming games is nothing new—both Sony and Microsoft have been doing it for years already, with Sony's Playstation Now service and Microsoft's Project xCloud. Google plans to launch its own cloud gaming service called Stadia, streaming video games in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second with support for high-dynamic-range. This will be available globally through Google's data centers using the Google Chrome web browser. The service will be integrated with YouTube, allowing all viewers of Stadia to launch a game on the service at the same save-state as the streamer. Although the service is compatible with HID class USB controllers, Google has designed a proprietary controller with direct Wi-fi linkage to data centers that will be available with Stadia's launch in late 2019. Sony's Playstation Now cloud gaming service has not been very successful, with only 700,000 paying subscribers and frequent complaints about choppy connectivity. It has been said that if you aren't spending billions of dollars on data centers every year, you can't keep up with the growing cloud environment. Sony's home-grown service is not robust enough to compete, so combining forces with Microsoft might be the key to competing with Google's infrastructure.