Google unveils new gaming platform, Stadia

Last night (19 March) tech giants Google introduced the world to its brand new digital gaming platform, Stadia, which is set to launch later this year in North America and Europe.

Stadia, which shares a name with a particularly unimpressive nightclub in Norwich’s Tombland district, was unveiled by the company’s newly-installed head of gaming Phil Harrison at a conference held in San Francisco. Google is billing it as a competitor to the current generation of home consoles, as well as traditional PC set-ups. It’s set to offer gamers a chance to play new titles over phones, laptops, tablets and TVs, with just a high-speed internet connection necessary to access the fun.

Last year saw Google entering the gaming sphere with Project Stream, which allowed users to play Assassins Creed Odyssey via its Chrome browser. Stadia will work similarly, with gamers finding themselves untethered from the usual hardware, discs, and downloads.

In addition to showing off about frame rate speed and 4k resolution, Harrison – who previously worked for both Sony and Microsoft, two of Google’s immediate competitors in the gaming industry – seemed very proud of Stadia’s controller, and specifically the fact that direct YouTube integration means nimble-fingered gamers will be able to immediately ping their killstreaks, fastest laps, and 30 yard screamers straight over to the world’s biggest video streaming platform.

The first title announced for the new service is Doom Eternal, a first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by industry big boys Id Software. Stadia’s exact launch date, and price, has yet to be announced.