All new Chromebooks now come pre-installed with Google Stadia

All new Chromebooks now come pre-installed with Google Stadia
(Image credit: Cody Engel / Shutterstock.com)

After firing an entire studio of people and upsetting at least one third-party developer, Google announced that Stadia will now be pre-installed on every single new Chromebook.

So what does that mean for Stadia? Well, it's a surprise that this hasn't happened already, but the fact that it did means that Google is still trying to push Stadia into a more profitable direction, despite its setbacks.

What this means for new Chromebooks

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Well, it appears that Google Stadia is not installed in the technical sense, but rather there's a hyperlink that sends you to the Stadia website on Google Chrome. It makes sense that the Android app isn't directly installed, since some Chromebooks have very limited storage to begin with.

Keep in mind that Google Stadia still requires you to pay for the games to actually play them. However, when you buy a new Chromebook right now, Google offers three months of Stadia Pro for free. Stadia Pro subscribers get to claim free games every month and stream in 4K HDR.

If you're wondering whether or not it's worth it to game on a Chromebook, we published our Google Stadia review back in May 2020, and our impressions were generally unfavorable.

However, you can't really beat playing games on a $300 Chromebook, that is if you already have it. If you're looking to spend that kind of money to game, you might as well buy an Xbox Series S.

Overall, this inclusion of Stadia in new Chromebooks is likely going to push more people to start using it, but only time will tell if it's an effective strategy.

Rami Tabari
Editor

Rami Tabari is an Editor for Laptop Mag. He reviews every shape and form of a laptop as well as all sorts of cool tech. You can find him sitting at his desk surrounded by a hoarder's dream of laptops, and when he navigates his way out to civilization, you can catch him watching really bad anime or playing some kind of painfully difficult game. He’s the best at every game and he just doesn’t lose. That’s why you’ll occasionally catch his byline attached to the latest Souls-like challenge.