Google Stadia Connect: When and where to watch Google’s pre-E3 keynote

Google will soon be revealing all the details about its highly anticipated cloud gaming service called Stadia. Details about the service’s pricing, games, and launch dates are going to be announced at its Stadia Connect presentation scheduled on 6 June. [caption id=“attachment_6297431” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Spectators look on during a Google keynote address announcing a new video gaming streaming service named Stadia that attempts to capitalize on the company’s cloud technology and a global network of data centers, at the Gaming Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., March 19, 2019. Image: Reuters.[/caption] Google Stadia was revealed by the company this year at the Game Developers Conference (GDC). Although it looked promising, just like every other cloud gaming/streaming service, latency is the biggest hurdle Google will have to tackle. This issue is still a problem across all the similar services. To avoid getting bogged down by all the E3 news and announcements, Google is hosting the event before anyone else’s presentation on 6 June at 9.30 pm IST, as revealed by a tweet from the official account. The Stadia Connect livestream will be hosted on Stadia’s YouTube channel. An IHS report stated that consumers globally spent around $387 million in cloud gaming services in 2018 and forecasted the industry to touch $2.5 billion in the next five years. Bandwidth and latency have always been the factors pulling down cloud gaming. From an Ookla report, India’s fixed broadband connections have average download and upload speeds of 26.46 Mbps and 21.91 Mbps respectively. Although this is just the bare minimum of the recommended bandwidth suggested by Google and NVIDIA, there’s also the issue of FUP packages. Streaming games will require up to 12 GB of data every hour (for 1080p 60 fps gaming) and gamers may hit their FUP cap in just a couple of days, depending on their internet plans. The IHS report showcases a global perspective to the adoption of cloud gaming, however, in India, the scenario is different. [caption id=“attachment_6293441” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Google’s Stadia controller looks to be cross between an Xbox One and PS4 controller.[/caption] Then there’s the **problem of latency** that’s dependent on Google’s servers and the user’s ISP, whether fixed broadband connections or cellular networks (that could be worse). We are excited about a cloud gaming service that works with minimal lag, letting us play games from practically any mobile device out there without the need for a high-end PC or a gaming console. How that really works out is something we’ll only get to know at the presentation. We will be running a live blog of the Stadia Connect presentation tomorrow. If you’re interested in what Google has to offer in cloud gaming, do tune in.