Let’s Just Agree That Stadia Is Actually Fine

When I wrote a heartbroken piece mourning how much I disliked Cyberpunk 2077, a lot of feedback that I got centered on one detail: That I had played a game of this magnitude on a Google Stadia.

Since its debut, the Stadia hasn’t exactly gotten glowing reviews. But I didn’t really have a choice. The only other console I own is a Nintendo Switch. For days, I scrambled trying to find another console to play it on, but everyone I knew who had a console capable of playing Cyberpunk understandably wanted to keep it for themselves. To play, I had to pick up a dusty Stadia review unit and Chromecast Ultra from my colleague, Jess Grey.

Once I had it, I just kept playing on it. After I gave up on Cyberpunk (it’s OK to give up!), I started playing AC Valhalla. Then a friend messaged me to start playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Then Red Dead Redemption 2. For four months, I’ve played almost every night on a Stadia. You know what? The Stadia is fine. It’s fine even if you don’t play it for work! It’s the perfect console for a player like me, who loves games but ... isn’t very good. Admit it. I bet there are more of us than you’d think.

When it launched, Stadia was pitched as a way to make high-resolution gaming a much more accessible hobby. While other companies offer cloud gaming—or online streaming gaming to a variety of devices—as a mere add-on, Stadia is entirely on the cloud. You can play games on a device you already own, or with a relatively affordable $69 controller.

Still, it’s not precisely true that you don’t have to have money to play on a Stadia. If you’re streaming games, paying for incredibly fast internet and a lot of bandwidth undoubtedly helps. Not only do I live in an area where fiber-optic internet is available—not very many people do!—I already pay for it.

I also have a TCL Series 5, which is a pretty great-looking smart TV. It has a built-in Roku with a dedicated gaming mode to reduce input lag. I’ve been playing first-person shooters (or lasso-ers, technically, in Red Dead) and multiplayer games for a few months. It doesn’t look bad! As far as I can tell, I’ve had very few issues with lag.

What person has high-speed internet and a decent TV, wants to play video games, and doesn’t already own an Xbox, PlayStation, or gaming PC? Surprise! It’s me!