Google Stadia could be the service that finally makes game streaming a viable way to play games all over the world without the need for a high-end gaming PC. Google has promised 4K and 60 FPS action in the games its platform offers. While at this time that's a limited number, Stadia holds a lot of potential. Onee question we've been asking though, is how much bandwidth will you need to actually play at such high detail levels? Apparently, not that much.
"For our [Stadia] launch this year, we have made some very significant improvements in our streamer, our codecs, our hardware and software services, which means we can get to 4K 60fps at around 30mbps," Google's Phil Harrison said in a chat with "30mbps doesn’t exclude a huge segment of the population. We think we can reach a very significant part of the world with that kind of performance. It’s not a gigabyte downstream."
Although it's a long shout from basic internet connections, the requirement of 30Mbps doesn't seem too stringent by our reckoning. Many gamers, especially those in larger, cities, have connections well in excess of that and that's only likely to continue in the years to come.
What we still don't know, though, is how much data this will actually equate to over time. Sure it's nice not to have to download a 50GB game, but if you are going to be downloading gigabytes worth of streamed data throughout your time with Stadia, what's the difference?
That raises concerns over data caps on ISP connections.
How would your connection fair when trying to play over Stadia?
