Google announced today that they are circumventing Apple’s App Store ban of streaming services by delivering Google Stadia via a web browser.
Officially referred to as “progressive Web application,” players will have to the entire Stadia library through a web browser rather than through a dedicated app, this strategy does not violate the App Store publishing guidelines that has caused controversy between Apple and Epic Games.
An Apple spokesperson told Business Insider in August 2020 the reasons behind the policy:
“The App Store was created to be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers,” an Apple spokesperson said. “Before they go to our store, all apps are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers.”
Stadia will arrive in the following weeks to iOS, the service will be offered in a beta form: “This will be the first phase of our iOS progressive Web application,” affirmed Google. “As we test performance and add more features, your feedback will help us improve the Stadia experience for everyone.”
Interestingly, NVIDIA GeForce NOW also announced this week that they are close to offering its cloud gaming service to iOS via a web browser. Xbox boss Phil Spencer reportedly told its team that they will also join deliver Project xCloud via a web browser.
Amazon, Google, Facebook, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and PlayStation are heavily investing in cloud gaming solutions to reach the casual player, those do not own dedicated hardware for playing games but would pay a subscription to have a library of games at disposal on HDTVs, cellphones, and tablets.
Streaming services will change the way content is presented to the player as teased by Facebook Gaming when the platform announced that users might get a mini-demo of a game that is essentially an ad. Players could then acquire the game or the subscription. Google will also look forward to crushing Twitch with the integration of Stadia to YouTube videos. Basically, publishers can link a demo to Stadia and players could play the game in seconds.
Source: Kotaku
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A Nintendo Switch trailer was also released.
According to SteamDB.
An announcement trailer was also released.