Google announced that its Stadia game streaming platform would release in 2019. Stadia launch territories include US, UK, Europe, and Canada. So if you were expecting a Stadia India release date for this year, think again. That said, Google stated it would have more to reveal later in the year, perhaps making a few more announcements at Google IO or E3 2019. No Stadia price was announced either.
Aside from revealing Stadia[1], the Stadia Controller[2], and of course developer support from the likes of Ubisoft and Id Software, Google also unveiled Stadia Games and Entertainment, it's the company's stab at first-part game development geared towards creating games for the platform. It would be headed by Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond.
Furthermore, Stadia will have deep integration with Google Assistant and YouTube, allowing users to access games and walkthroughs instantly. And if developers allow it, be able to load up into a game directly from a point in a walkthrough immediately. Plus, YouTubers would be able to create new challenges for their audience for games too, theoretically ensuring infinite replayability.
That said, while Google[3] spent the better part of its Stadia reveal waxing eloquent on the data centre being the console, it failed to address what would happen if its data centres went down or how much of a hit your Internet data cap would take for using Stadia. Perhaps it would allow users to download games in the future much like YouTube allows for downloads? Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out.
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