Google Announces Stadia Shutdown: What Next In Cloud Gaming?
What is Google Stadia?
Google Stadia is a cloud-based gaming service developed by Google. It is a video game streaming service that allows players to play games on primitive hardware. The service was released publicly in November, 2019 in select countries.
Cloud gaming is a form of gaming that uses rigs running on the cloud to deliver games to players. It allows players to play high-end games such as Cyberpunk 2077 on hardware as primitive as an Intel Pentium CPU.
In order for you to play your favorite game, you need only two things: an internet connection (a damn good one) and a browser, and servers and rigs running on the cloud will be projected to your screen, which then allows you to play the game almost as if you’re running it locally.
Google Stadia Is Shutting Down
Google announced on 30th September, 2022 about the wind down of Google Stadia. Google stated that Stadia wasn’t receiving nearly enough traffic to keep it running. With that, Google took the hard decision of shutting down Stadia. Google employees working in the Google Stadia department will be reassigned to other roles within the company.
Alternatives to Google Stadia
Nvidia ‘Geforce Now‘
A powerful cloud gaming service, developed by Nvidia, which promises 4k 60 fps gaming on your browser! However, ‘Geforce Now’ is available in select countries.
Shadow
Shadow is not a cloud gaming service per se, but a cloud computing service. It provides users, not a virtual rig just for gaming, but an entire computer to yourself. This could be especially helpful to digital artists, for rendering power heavy creations.
