Google Stadia — the cloud-based game-streaming service — promises to deliver console and PC quality to players regardless of the device they use, no matter if it’s a Pixel phone, tablet, or laptop. Now, thanks to today’s Made By Google 2019 event, we know when you’ll be able to try it out for yourself: Google Stadia will officially launch on November 19. This announcement came alongside the Pixel 4, Pixel Buds 2, and the Nest Home Mini.
As previously revealed by Google, the only way you’ll be able to play Google Stadia at launch is with the Founder’s Edition, which comes with a controller, three months of the Stadia Pro subscription service, and a Chromecast Ultra for playing on a television. At launch, the only phones supported will be the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL and newer.
The official Stadia controller was designed for those with both large and small hands, and its engineers revealed during the Made by Google event that the shape of its grip was originally based on a knife handle.
Google certainly isn’t skimping when it comes to the games you’ll be able to play on Stadia. Big-name first-person shooters such as Destiny 2: Shadowkeep and Doom Eternal are coming to the streaming service, and it will also support Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2.
The promises being made for future Stadia performance are certainly lofty — though they have also been met with some mocking online. The company believes it can achieve “negative latency” within the next few years, which could predict your button presses before you actually make them. This could potentially remove user input from the gaming equation, and would work by pre-rendering frames so that they are prepared for when the button is actually pressed. As it stands, there is very little latency on the current version of Stadia, though the quality we experienced during the Project Stream test was not on par with a PC or console.
Google will have hefty competition in the game-streaming space, as Microsoft is also preparing to launch its Project xCloud service. The service was just opened up to preview members with Android devices, and also allows players to enjoy PC or console AAA games on practically any device they own.
