When Google announced Stadia, gamers had mixed reactions. They shared concerns over the future of the gaming industry given the emphasis on streaming-based gaming. Players also wondered whether the concept was appealing enough to warrant purchasing Stadia (and the games) to try it out. They shared concerns over how poor internet could affect the quality of the product.
Even in light of all the concerns, Stadia has the opportunity to succeed in one continuously expanding market: mobile gaming.
Console Games on Your Phone
Mobile gaming is a massive market. Free-to-play games (with optional in-game purchases) attract curious players to download games and give them a try. Unfortunately, Stadia won’t have the free-to-play game model, which gives it a disadvantage when compared with traditional mobile games. However, it makes up for this in its ability to bring massive console games straight to a player’s phone.
Stadia is a cloud-based game streaming service. This means hardware doesn’t matter when playing games. All of the heavy lifting is done in dedicated servers that players access over internet connections. Anyone with a good enough internet connection can play console-quality games right on their phone.
Finding Inspiration in the Nintendo Switch
Nintendo tried something different when it released the Nintendo Switch. The company promised the ability to play high-quality games as a home console, with the power to seamlessly switch to a portable gaming experience without experiencing too much drop in quality.
Taking inspiration from Nintendo, Stadia will allow gamers a wide variety of ways to play games. Options include a player’s personal computer via Google Chrome web browser, tablets, smart televisions and mobile devices. This diverse range of options is one of the product’s most appealing factors.
The Promise of Better Mobile Experiences
The mobile gaming market suffers because some free-to-play app-based games can quickly lose their appeal. Game developers are trying to change that, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Call of Duty: Mobile is going to be released this year. While it looks to be a promising mobile gaming experience, one can expect a scaled-down experience given the limitations of the mobile format.
Playing the full-fledged soon-to-launch Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the same phone is a far more appealing option. Stadia will bring beautiful games such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Destiny 2 and a long list of others. Playing these games on the go without sacrificing quality will be amazing.
It’s too early to tell if Stadia will succeed with its exclusively streaming-based model, but there is promise. One of its biggest draws is its versatility. With a strong internet connection, gamers have amazing games at their fingertips. In a market where mobile gaming is more popular than ever, Stadia’s appeal is even sweeter.
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