Google Stadia now supports 4K streaming on the web

The roll out has started for Stadia users

by Tom Warren

Mar 5, 2020, 10:08 AM UTC

A person holds a Stadia controller in their hands. The controller is connected to a Chromebook, which is playing a game.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Tom Warren is a senior correspondent and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years.

Google is starting to roll out 4K streaming support for Stadia on the web. 9to5Google reports that a number of Reddit users have spotted the new 4K support in games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Mortal Kombat 11, and Grid. The option doesn’t appear to be available for all Stadia users, though. We’ve tested three Stadia accounts and none of them have the 4K option just yet.

If you’re a Stadia user then you can check your connection quality and resolution by pressing shift + tab once a game is launched and selecting the connection section. A 4K label should appear if your connection and display supports the new streaming option.

4K on Stadia in Chrome

Baconrules21 (Reddit)

It’s not yet clear how Google will handle 4K streams over the web to devices with a 1080p or 1440p screens. If Google requires a 4K monitor and hasn’t implemented downscaling for Stadia on the web then a lot of people will be left out of this new option. We’ll test this fully once the 4K option appears on our Stadia test accounts.

Google also appears to be readying new features for Stadia. A recent Stadia app hints at the highly anticipated free tier, YouTube streaming, family game sharing, and more.

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