Newsletter
Google started rolling out an update for the Stadia service today that enables compatibility on the existing Chromecast Ultra units.
This now makes it possible officially to use Stadia on any Chromecast Ultra device in the home. Even ones that didn’t come with the Founders or Premiere bundles.
Google stated before and shortly after the service launched that it would only work with units that came in the bundle. But, that it would also send out an update that would turn the feature on for existing devices.
The Stadia Chromecast update is still only for Ultra units
Google has made this perfectly clear it seems like, but it’s easy to miss. Hence why people are still asking. Stadia won’t work with older generation Chromecast devices.
It must be a Chromecast Ultra and the update that Google started rolling out today only enables the service for those units.
This might be unfortunate for some people if they haven’t updated. Because let’s be honest, the older Chromecast devices still work just fine if you don’t care about 4K. But if you like the idea of Stadia and want to play games through it, it’s time to upgrade.
The update comes at a perfect time
This is really perfect timing. We’re heading into the holidays next week, and it’s midway through the week this week so the weekend is just a couple of days away.
On top of all this Google just launched three more games for Stadia between yesterday and today. Borderlands 3 and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 yesterday, and Ghost Recon Breakpoint today.
Today also marks the launch of the Stream Connect feature. So far it only works with Ghost Recon Breakpoint as it was intended to launch alongside it. More games will be compatible with it in the future though.
Of course this is another thing that has to be enabled by the developers. Google has launched the feature, but that won’t automatically enable it for any game that has multiplayer and could benefit from it.
The point being is you can’t use it for games like Borderlands 3 or Destiny 2. Even though it would be a blast to use it with those games if it worked.
If you have access to Stadia already, we have some good news to share. We have rolled out an update to existing Chromecast Ultras that allow them to work with Stadia. Grab your Stadia Controller, sync it to any Chromecast Ultra & start playing on an additional TV in your house.
— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) December 18, 2019