Google announces gaming service Stadia at GDC 2019

Google is the generic brand for search engines no matter how much Bing would like for it not to be true. It's infiltrated maps, flights, mail, and calendars. Now, with the tech company's recent keynote announcement during this year's Game Developers Conference, it's looking toward the future of gaming as well.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke about AI, like one of Google's that recently defeated a Starcraft pro, and Project Stream, the service Google used to test its ability to stream AAA games on any device that can run Google Chrome. Then, the new service Stadia — which will combine viewing, making, and playing games for the entire gaming audience.

The demonstration showed off Stadia's ability to switch playing a game between a laptop to a tablet to a smartphone - all nearly instantly. They also showcased the new Stadia controller, which connects to the game players are in with WiFi and can utilize the Google Assistant during the game.

The service will be able to stream up to 4K upon its release, with 8K capabilities coming in the future. Havok, Unreal, and AMD are all onboard - giving longtime gamers plenty of familiar names to situate themselves within this new paradigm. In fact, id, the company behind Doom, worked with Stadia to push it to its limits. Doom Eternal, for example, will run at 4K on the service.

Its keynote was live on YouTube, which you can view below:

With no consoles required to play on TVs or to play these high-level games on low-level devices, Stadia truly does seem to be changing the game. Stadia will be released sometime in 2019.