Google reveals requirements to run Stadia in 4K via web, no Mac support for 4K yet

Google Stadia was set to be the next big thing in the world of gaming, but it doesn’t seem to have set the world on fire. Not yet anyway. The company has been slowing improving its services. It recently started rolling out 4K support for the web and now it has revealed the minimum requirements needed to play 4K games on the web. Google Stadia’s support page now mentions the required specs and interestingly, it only mentions that it is supported on Windows and Chrome OS, which means that Mac users won’t be able to play in 4K on their devices. At least, not at the moment. 

As per the page, 4K gameplay is only possible with VP9 hardware decoding. Since that tech is not supported on Mac, the service is not available on that system. Of course, gamers will also need to have a 4K monitor and a Pro subscription in order to use the service. 

You can also check to see your system supports VP9 hardware decoding by opening Google Chrome and typing chrome://gpu in the address bar and pressing enter. Users will then have to scroll down to ‘Video Acceleration Information’ and if they see a ‘Decode VP9’ option, then their device will support 4K gameplay on Stadia.

If you’re not quite familiar with Google Stadia, here’s a quick recap. Unlike most other gaming systems, Stadia doesn’t need you to have high-end hardware in order to play games. Titles are streamed to you via the cloud, so in theory, all you would need would be a controller, a display and a high-speed internet service. This also means that you could start playing a game on the TV, then continue playing on your phone if you have to leave the house.

You can find out more about the service here.

Google Stadia was launched in November but received mixed reviews. Many people also noted that the service was missing some key features during the launch. It should also be noted that the service isn’t available in India yet, but it should make it to the country at some point. Hopefully, by then, all the flaws and niggles with the service should be fixed.

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