Google’s Stadia Aims to Turn Any Screen Into a Powerful Gaming Console

Stadia is Google’s game streaming service that is designed to let you play high-end games on most modern screens — be they phone, laptop, tablet, computer or TV — with very little download time and no loss of fidelity, the company announced Tuesday at the Game Developers Conference.The service is launching in 2019. Cost or monetization was not discussed in the unveiling.“Our next big effort is to build a game platform for everyone,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. “When we say everyone we really mean it.” He said the company wants to “change the game” by bringing together the people who play games, watch games, and build games. “We’re really excited to work with you,” he said.The service will allow players to find a game they like, tap a button, and begin playing on a device within seconds, the company said. Stadia provides access to high-end games without the need for downloads, updates, patches or installs. Stadia uses Google’s data centers around the world to power the service, relying on Google’s Edge Network — which has more than 7,500 edge node locations globally — to ensure that latency will be low, according to the company. The service will be capable of supporting games running at 4K, 60 frames per second with HDR and surround sound at launch, with an eye at offering support for 8K resolution and 120 frames per second in the future.