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Annual tech jamboree CES, this year occurring virtually rather than in Las Vegas, has thrown a few gaming-related stories, the most intriguing of which is that Stadia will be making its way to recent and new LG TVs during the year.
We’ve long marked the inclusion of Stadia into smart TVs as being the next big step for the service, much as it was for Netflix.
The Stadia app will come to LG’s new 2021 models, running WebOS 6.0, as well as being rolled out later this year to 2020 models as well, running WebOS 5.0. That potentially puts Stadia a button press away for millions of TV owners, and it’s that ease of access that will underpin Stadia’s long-term future.
“Supporting Stadia on LG TVs is our commitment to consumers, as games are an increasingly important feature for LG TV owners.”said Lee Sang-woo, senior vice president of corporate business strategy at LG. “Stadia is changing the way people access their favorite games, and by ensuring webOS compatibility, we are taking a first step together with the platform.”
However, details were thin on the ground regarding controller support for the new feature. Netflix flourished and you needed nothing more than your TV remote and a credit card to get started.
It looks likely that you’ll need to buy a Stadia controller to use the new app, which is a significant speedbump (although more on the scale of buying a Fire TV stick than a whole console if we’re sticking with the TV analogy). Support for other Bluetooth controllers, such as devices intended for PC or mobile use, would certainly widen the potential pool of players.
Alongside Stadia will come Nvidia’s GeForce now service as well.
