Google Set Final Broadband Requirements and UK Price for Stadia

Internet giant Google has today announced that their new cloud-based online video gaming service, Stadia, will launch into the UK market from November 2019 and it will come both with and without (free) a monthly subscription service (£8.99 per month). We also now know exactly what broadband speed you’ll need to run it.

The idea of a cloud based video gaming service, where you remote play video / computer games that are streamed to you online live from a huge data centre (usually to almost any device with a good display – smartphones, laptops, tablets, desktop PCs etc.), is nothing new (e.g. OnLive) but crucially Google’s attempt is launching at a time when most consumers may actually be able to run it properly.

At present around 96% of premises across the United Kingdom should be able to order a “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) ISP capable connection and nearly 60% are within reach of “ultrafast” (100Mbps+) speeds, while Gigabit capable “full fibre” (FTTP) networks currently only cover 7% but they’re rising fast.

Not to mention that 4G (LTE) based mobile broadband speeds can often also deliver “superfast” or considerable better performance. Latency times are also generally much improved by modern connections, which is an important consideration for any remote-play service.

What do you need for Stadia?

Google’s announcement confirms that Stadia will work at its best (i.e. 4K HDR resolution at 60 frames per second with 5.1 surround sound) across connections that deliver a stable 35Mbps download speed, although it can also function down to a “recommended minimum” of 10Mbps (same level as the UK Government’s new Universal Service Obligation [USO]) but you’ll obviously end up playing at a lower HD resolution of 720p.

We consider that features like High Dynamic Range (HDR) and 5.1 surround sound are far from essential and when you remove those then a speed of 30Mbps should be fine for 60fps gaming in 4K. However we will need to see how all of this works in the real-world for ourselves before judging what it’s actually like, particularly in terms of the latency (ping time) impact (depends upon the quality of your local network setup, broadband technology, your ISPs peering / routing arrangements and the remote servers themselves etc.).

According to Google, “Any user within 40ms round-trip-time of a Stadia Point of Presence will have a great experience.” Plus there are plans for 8K quality streaming in the future, which will obviously increase the connection demands significantly and probably give your ISP more of a headache with capacity, but that’s assuming any of this is actually appealing to consumers. Speaking of which..

So what do you actually get?

At launch Google are offering a Founder’s Edition, which for £119 (one-off) will bundle 3 months of free Stadia Pro access (normally £8.99 per month) and 3 months of Stadia Pro to give away to a friend (Buddy Pass). The bundle also includes the exclusive Night Blue Stadia Controller, a Google Chromecast Ultra device for streaming to your TV and a Founder’s Stadia Name.

We should add that the Stadia Pro subscription will give you all of the best video quality, discounts on games you can buy (yes you’ll still have to buy some, which seems to remove one of the advantages of a subscription based gaming service!) and access to a bunch of “free” games (currently only Destine 2 at launch but more are coming).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx21mOYsb2k

In 2020 Google will also launch a free (no subscription) Stadia Base package, although this will only support HD resolution (1080p at 60fps with stereo sound). You’ll still be able buy games whenever you want on Stadia Base, but you won’t have access to any of the “free” games that come with Stadia Pro and you won’t benefit from any discounts on other non-free games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-BbW6zAjL0

Personally speaking, I still prefer to own and download the games I play and enjoy having full visual quality without any streaming involved, but others may take a different view, particularly given the high price of new AAA games today and the hefty storage space requirements.