Google Stadia - oh, the possibilities

This month, Google announced an upcoming game streaming service by the name of Stadia, slated to launch later this year.  There have been, and currently are, other game streaming services out there, but Google's version is supposed to take advantage of their reach and expertise to make a "like-local" connection happen on nearly any hardware, including phones and tablets.

Initial reactions I've seen across the web have been, well, less than enthusiastic.  Some are convinced that Google's technical claims are overblown, either because of their experience with networking hardware in general, or due to a firmly-held belief that the system's responsiveness won't be able to keep up with their "leet gaming skillz".  Others loudly decry the upcoming death of actually owning the games you pay for, never mind that software "licensing", for good or bad, has been a reality for decades.  On top of all that, you have other lingering, unanswered questions, like how much the end-user will need to pay to get access to the service, and how developers will get paid for the games they make for the service, for starters.  All in all, it's not a great point for Google to start from.

However, consider the possibilities... suppose Google's technical claims are spot on (or enough so for the majority of game players and types), and the financial details work out well enough for both users and developers.  What might that mean, for both Stadia, and for gaming at large?

The first big thing that comes to mind for me is game stability.  There are a fair number of games out there available for both the various game consoles and PC.  Currently, especially if I'm looking at a launch-day purchase, I'll try to suss out which device the game was built for, and which ones get a "ported" version.  Even though I could often get the PC version cheaper, and get the ability to tweak various settings for a better overall experience, I'll often get the XBox version.  That's mainly because I know the developers have had access to the exact same hardware I'm using, so I'm less likely to run into problems due to a particular bit of hardware (or its driver software) behaving slightly differently than the developer expected.

Now, bring Stadia into the picture.  You get standardized PC-like hardware that any developers using that system will have to test thoroughly against (the end-user not having access to anything like a power switch).  That's a standard that PC component manufacturers can also build/test their goods against as a selling point... or somebody (even Google?) could build a "compatibility mode" software package as a layer between the hardware and the games for "in the wild" PCs to work with, simplifying troubleshooting there.  Oh, and for the people playing on Stadia, there's no longer any need or justification for third-party DRM software, which would also help out with stability.

The other big thing Stadia could do that I see... well, for all it sounds like hyperbole, I think it could revolutionize multiplayer online gaming.  For starters, just think about the current state of online play in almost any game you care to name.  If there's one thing I've taken to heart, it's that, given the slightest opportunity, there is a subset of humanity that will find a way to cheat, and even take a certain pride in doing so.  They'll install programs on their devices, or tweak the settings on their routers, to get the slightest advantage over their fellow players.  Stadia could all but eliminate that issue, since all the cheater has access to is the control inputs and the display output they receive from the service.

On top of that, consider MMOs and other server-based games.  Design to now has been limited by what you can offload to the client (thanks in large part to cheaters), and what you can afford to pass between the client and server in real time over a variety of network connection speeds.  With your "slow" connection now between the user and their client, their inability to access the internals of the client, and standardized client hardware, you could offload more tasks to the client hardware, and, with a high-speed private connection across Google's network to the server, transmit more data, and be better-connected from things like denial-of-service attacks.

How this will all shake out is yet to be seen, and there are certainly plenty of potential pitfalls yet to be addressed.  However, right now, I'm seeing some very nice potential in this Stadia service.  Here's hoping!