Google Is Still Pushing Cloud Gaming Via Search, Ignores Stadia’s Impending Doom
Despite having fantastic technology and a stranglehold on search traffic, Google couldn’t make its Stadia game streaming service work. That’s all the better for the likes of Microsoft and Nvidia. Now they’re the ones getting prominent game streaming placement in search results. Google has officially announced the ability to launch cloud games from these results. Of course, it neglected to mention Stadia, which is headed for shutdown in just a few weeks.
Google began testing this feature in August, and at the time, Stadia was still technically operational. It wasn’t until the following month that Google announced that it was going to kill the service, which lasted less than three years. Back when Google was testing this feature with Stadia, the search page seemed to focus mostly on games that were included in the Pro subscription. It offered a trial for users who were not already paying for Pro, but Google doesn’t have a window into your subscription status on other services.
When you search for a game that’s available on a cloud service like Nvidia GeForce Now, you may see a “Play” button in the info box. It links you directly to the page for that title on the gaming service so you can launch and start playing. The search results are at least smart enough to indicate if you need a subscription to play a game, which you usually do. Free games like Fortnite are listed as such.
This feature is available on both mobile and desktop, but it does seem rather random whether or not the play button appears and which service it links to. For instance, GeForce Now has a much larger library of supported games because it connects to services like Steam and Epic, but few of those games show the cloud gaming link in search results. Supported games appear on GeForce Now, Xbox, and Amazon Luna.
No console 🎮? No problem. Now you can search and launch video games in the cloud instantly with Google. ☁️ Available in the U.S., in English for mobile and desktop. pic.twitter.com/Zpj5DVBCkD
— Google (@Google) December 13, 2022
It’s a strange time to be highlighting a feature like this. Google announced in September that it would shut down the consumer side of its cloud gaming efforts, but the technology behind Stadia will live on as “Immersive Stream.” Google plans to continue licensing this technology to companies like AT&T that want to make cloud games available in a one-off fashion. Stadia still technically exists for those who previously bought games, but it will go offline completely on January 18, 2023. Google did promise to refund all Stadia purchases, so at least there’s that.
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