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.
- See the best PC games and best Xbox Game Pass PC games to play now
- Check out the Xbox Series X games and PS5 games confirmed so far
- See our reviews of the Xbox Series X and PS5
What this means for new Chromebooks
Did you know Chromebooks now come with @GoogleStadia already installed? Start playing games without waiting for downloads or updates. Click the Stadia icon in your app menu to get started. pic.twitter.com/iV1Mb32pYPFebruary 9, 2021
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.
