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Disadvantages of Google Stadia

Disadvantages of Google Stadia as a Game Streaming Platform

Disadvantages of Google Stadia

Google Stadia has been announced which has taken the gaming industry by a storm. Many people are starting to question the future of traditional video gaming. Hardware for gaming might become the thing of the past. However, it would take a long time for hardware to go out of shape. There are many disadvantages of Google Stadia. It requires lots of bandwidth and data cap to work perfectly. The amount of internet speed required for the minimum resolution of Google Stadia is more than most people can afford. Google Stadia will face lots of difficulties during implementation. At present, internet service providers are not ready to handle Google Stadia.

You can also purchase Google Stadia Founder Edition which includes a chrome cast, Night Blue Stadia Controller and two three-months pro subscription. The pro subscription will enable you to play games on 4k. You can give the second subscription to your friend. The subscription would otherwise cost $9.99. Microsoft xCloud is the biggest rival of Google Stadia which could face the same challenges. However, Microsoft has some alternatives working for its advantage. Microsoft and Sony are joining forces in cloud gaming.

Problems of Google Stadia and Internet speed

The minimum speed required to play games on Google Stadia at 720 and 6 Frames is 10 Mbps. 1080 and 60 Frames requires 25 Mbps. The game can work on less speed but this speed is recommended by Google. If you want to play games at 4k then you would need at least 30 Mbps to 35 Mbps speed. The internet speed requirement for Google Stadia is quite high for people in most parts of the world. Google Stadia is best suitable for countries with faster internet speed. The platform would have no problem getting success in countries where the average speed is higher. Most of the people won’t be able to run games on 4k so it’s not a viable option for many people.

Data Cap

The data cap is one of the main disadvantages of Google Stadia. Many internet service providers implement Data caps to minimize the load on their network. Google Stadia will consume lots of data which could burn through your data cap quite easily. If you were running games at 4k then you will be using up to 20GB data per hour. An average game takes 20 hours for a person to complete. In case of online games, that figure reaches to infinity. No matter how much you play an online game it can’t be completed. Online games are designed to be played for infinity. If you play for 5 hours a day then your data consumption per day would be 100 GB. Most of the internet service providers don’t offer a high data cap. So even if you have high-speed internet you will still be limited by data cap.

Internet Cost

In traditional gaming, you would need powerful hardware to run games. Internet is only required in traditional gaming during multiplayer. You don’t have to worry about the data cap. You won’t even need high-speed internet. Even 4 Mbps would work fine for all of the online games. If people want to use Google Stadia for gaming then they would have to spend money on the internet instead of hardware. The amount of money that you spend would remain the same. Cost of the internet will increase which is one of the disadvantages of Google Stadia.

If you have low-speed internet you would need to use service that provides high-speed internet with high to unlimited data cap. If you already have high-speed internet then you would need to increase your data cap. You will still need to buy the games from the store. You won’t be able to give your physical copy of the game to your friend. In a sense, you are trading hardware cost for internet cost.

Internet Service Providers Issue

There are lots of disadvantages of Google Stadia when it comes to internet service providers. If you have unlimited data cap and high-speed internet you will not be consuming that much data. In most cases, internet service providers would have no problem with the amount of data you are consuming. Internet service providers would give you unlimited data because they know that you will not be spending that much. All this could change with the introduction of a game streaming service such as Google Stadia. Internet service providers would not agree to this much data usage.

The amount of data that Google Stadia consumes could affect the overall internet service. If there are more people using Google Stadia then more data would be consumed. The increased data consumption could force internet service providers to put data caps on most of its services or raise costs. Even if they don’t take such measure they will still let you pay for the excessive data consumption. Internet service providers could be a big problem for Google Stadia.

Is it your type of platform?

Google Stadia requires lots of internet speed. It also consumes lots of data which might not be a viable option for many people. Surely you can utilize slow internet speed and limited data. However, that would come with some compromises. You will have to play at 720 at 60 frames or 1080 at 60 frames. Most players would not want to play at 1080 after all its 2019. Next generation consoles are right at the corner. Next-generation consoles are expected to run games at 8k resolution. So Google Stadia would have to rethink their strategy. I am not saying that it is totally bad because you can even use a smartphone or low-end pc to run games. The platform would work best for people with high to unlimited data cap and high-speed internet. If you are that person then Google Stadia is best suited for you.

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