Google Stadia: Everything you need to know

Ubisoft is one of Google’s major partners when it comes to providing streaming content. During its fiscal year 2020 earnings call today, Ubisoft provided a quick update on Stadia’s performance, and how the studio is taking advantage of the cloud for development amid COVID-19 and WFH.

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The biggest thing Google Stadia still needs is games and, in good news for sports fans, PGA Tour 2K21 has been announced for the platform.

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Last month, Google Stadia expanded its feature set on the web by enabling support for 5.1 surround sound, but unlike Windows and Mac, this support was not available on Google’s own Chrome OS. Now it looks like Google is bringing 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound support to Chrome OS specifically to improve gaming on Stadia.

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In January, Google announced partnerships where ISPs distribute Stadia Premiere Editions to new customers. The Stadia deal with Verizon is now expanding beyond Fios to include new 5G Home Internet customers.

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Originally expected at the end of March, Google announced that wireless Stadia Controller support is rolling out to the web this week. This means that gamers playing on laptops and desktops no longer need to connect via USB.

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Google’s long-term vision for Assistant in Stadia is as a guide that can suggest YouTube walkthroughs when you’re stuck. Until then, you can use it to open games on your Chromecast-connected televisions. Google Assistant also works to launch games directly on Android phones and Chromebooks.

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Over the years, Google has become infamous for creating and “killing” messaging apps, as well as putting messaging into apps where it may or may not be useful, like in YouTube. Now, Google is preparing to launch messaging into yet another app, Stadia.

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Google Stadia has had quite the busy week, between Tuesday’s Stadia Connect event and the launch of new Stadia Pro games for May. Stadia for Android also saw an update to version 2.16 this week, which continues to prep for Android TV, as well as start work on sharing captures and much more.

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So far, Google Stadia’s cloud platform has been used mainly for online shooters or single-player adventures, but a few months into its life, the platform is adding new experiences for everyone to enjoy. For months, I’ve been waiting for Get Packed to arrive, and I’m happy to report that the game is just as good as I hoped. Let’s dig in.

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Recent platform updates to Google’s game streaming service have focused on making the web experience match playing on Chromecast. A server-side update today lets the Stadia Controller ‘capture’ screenshots and video clips on Android.

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One of the biggest complaints about Google Stadia for ages has been its lack of major games, but that is slowly starting to change. Today, Google has announced that EA titles are coming to Stadia and that starts with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order last this year.

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Today, Google held its first “Stadia Connect” event since the platform launched in November, unveiling and even releasing a ton of new games. Here’s a quick rundown of everything announced during the April 2020 Stadia Connect.

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Google’s streaming platform has its fair share of multiplayer titles, with the free tier launch earlier this month greatly increasing the number of players. Stadia is adding PUBG and making the multiplayer shooter free for Stadia Pro customers today.

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