Chinese gamers want Google Stadia, but they probably can't have it

One comment on Weibo says, "Game streaming is here. Yet the Wall is thicker."

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Chinese gamers want Google Stadia, but they probably can't have it

Published: 8:16pm, 20 Mar 2019Updated: 8:59am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

China is well-positioned to embrace game streaming, a sort of Netflix for games which streams the titles instantly to you. Imagine playing a demanding game like Red Dead Redemption 2 on a low-end smartphone -- that’s the sort of thing possible with game streaming.

And it’s a good fit for China, a country with 459 million mobile gamers, a huge ambition for 5G and a generation of gamers deprived of console games due to the country’s console ban.

Why the impact of China’s 15-year console ban still lingers today

So Chinese gamers paid close attention when Google said that it would soon launch its game-streaming service, Stadia -- which allows gamers to play triple-A titles on Chrome, Android devices and TVs seemingly with extreme ease.

But there is just one problem: They’re probably not going to get Stadia.

Why? Well, Google isn’t available in China. The search engine was blocked in the country before it later decided to exit China entirely, maintaining only a limited presence.

Google showed off its huge datacenter infrastructure around the world when it introduced Stadia. But do you see any of them in mainland China? (Picture: Google)

Knowing that the Great Firewall will likely stop them from using Google’s latest creation, Chinese gamers are frustrated. A popular comment from a Chinese gaming forum wrote, “5G is here. Game streaming is here. Yet the Wall is thicker.”