Google Stadia Pro can now stream games in 4K on the web

Laurent Giret

We went hands on with both Project xCloud and Google Stadia, here are our first impressions

Google has quietly started to roll out support for 4K streaming for the web version of its Stadia cloud gaming service. 9to5Google is reporting that many Stadia Pro subscribers are now seeing the option to play games in 4K on the web, though Google has yet to officially announce it.

Until now, 4K gameplay for Stadia was only supported on TVs with a Chromecast Ultra, with the web app being limited to 1080p. To play games in 4K, Google recommends a ≥ 35 Mbps connection speed and requires users to enable “Best visual quality” in Stadia settings.

Following a rocky launch, things may finally start to look better for Stadia. On March 17, Ubisoft’s loot shooter Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will land on Stadia with support for PC crossplay, which to our knowledge is a first for a Stadia game. Moreover, traces of Stadia’s free tier have recently been found by 9to5Google, and it shouldn’t be long before Google finally opens up access to its cloud gaming service to everyone.

On the Microsoft side, the software giant recently expanded the Project xCloud preview to Canada, and the service is also available on iOS devices, though the catalog on that platform is currently limited to Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Unlike Stadia, the service is not available on TVs or the web yet, but Microsoft said back in November that it would be coming to Windows 10 PCs this year.