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Stadia will launch later this year; a full list of games hasn't been provided but a handful were shown off during Google's keynote address on Tuesday.
Stadia makes use of streaming technology to make high quality video games playable on a variety of devices, including computers, smartphones, and the Chrome Cast.
Games on Stadia will have special YouTube integration and unique multiplayer features like State Share and Crowd Play.
Earlier today Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced Stadia, Google's new video game platform. Rather than creating a new console, every game on Stadia will be streamed to players from Google's cloud data centers. That means Stadia will make high quality video games available on any device with the Google Chrome browser, including computers, smartphones, and the ChromeCast.
Google claims that games on Stadia will be able to surpass the graphical quality of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, reaching up to 60 frames per second at 4K resolution when it launches later this year. Google partnered with chipmaker AMD to develop new technology for Stadia's gaming hardware.
Google first tested their video game streaming service in October 2018 with a closed beta service called ProjectStream. The beta test let users play "Assassin's Creed: Odyssey," a $60 game released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, from Google's Chrome browser.
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Developed by Ubisoft, "Assassin's Creed" is the sort of blockbuster game that would traditionally require a dedicated video game console or gaming computer to play. ProjectStream significantly reduced that barrier to entry; it only required a 25 mbps or faster internet connection and the Chrome browser, controllers were optional. The streaming platform offered the same high quality graphics and gameplay experience as the console versions of the game.
Stadia is due for release in 2019 but only a handful of games were showcased during Google's GDC keynote address. The platform already has the support of popular video game development software like Unreal and Unity, which will make it easier to create games for Google's platform moving forward.
"Assassin's Creed Odyssey" continues to feature heavily in Stadia content after being included in Google's ProjectStream test last year.
"Doom Eternal" will be coming to Stadia, as announced by Marty Stratton of id Software.
Announced last year for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, "Doom Eternal" will run at 60 frames per second with 4k resolution and HDR on Stadia.
One multiplayer Stadia demo created by Tangent games showed off a destructible urban environment where players could fly freely and use a variety of explosive weapons.
The demo was reminiscent of early demonstrations of Microsoft's "Crackdown 3," which aimed to use cloud technology to make large destructible environments.
Another tech demo, a cooperative game called "Night Forest," offered players a picture-in-picture view of the game from the perspective of the other players.
Stadia will allow players to effortlessly share their screen with other players, giving developers a new way to build cooperative gameplay. Google said that Stadia wont be limited to a specific number of players either.
"Rime," an adventure game first released in 2017, was used to demonstrate how easily developers can change the art style of their game.
An unannounced title from Q Games was used to show off Stadia's so-called State Share feature.
When using Stadia, players will be able to State Share, creating a link to an exact point in a game for other players to return to. Settings like difficulty, items or time are saved too, so players can use this feature to create challenging scenarios for one another or to share a specific experience.
Using Stadia's Crowd Play feature, players could join a game of "NBA 2K19" while watching their favorite streamer.
Stadia will also include new tools for streamers and content creators. Streamers will be able to invite viewers to join in on their game using Stadia's Crowd Play feature.
Google used "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" to show how Stadia can quickly pull up walkthroughs and strategy guides from YouTube.
"Shadow of the Tomb Raider" was used to demonstrate Stadia's YouTube integration. Players will be able to use the Google Assistant to find strategy videos and walkthroughs on YouTube. A single press of the assistant button on the Stadia controller while playing can bring the user to the right guide.
Former Electronic Arts executive Jade Raymond will be the head of Google's first party game studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment.
Stadia Games and Entertainment will be Google's own in-house game studio, led by Jade Raymond. Raymond left Electronic Arts in October 2018 and announced her role as a vice president at Google in March.
With Stadia, Raymond will be working to create exclusive experiences that make use of Stadia's unique strengths. Stadia will also make its development tools available to major and indie studios to make third party support easier.
There's still no set release date or pricing information for Stadia, but you can signup to receive updates via the Google Store
