Google’s game streaming platform hasn’t really had a real heavy weight blockbuster to really show off its power, at least not compared to what existing platforms have been capable of. But the Cyberpunk 2077 is looking like a next-gen killer app that can show off Stadia. Tom Warren from The Verge has been sharing gameplay of the start of CD Projekt Red’s ambitious game running on Stadia, and the results are amazing. Captured from a Chrome browser on a 1440p display on performance mode, the game looks indistinguishable from a high spec PC. While the beefiest PC rig is still bound to have the best performance, you’re still looking at installing all patches and updating your drivers to support DLSS. That you’ll be able to just dive straight into Night City without all those downloads, and of course without all the expensive hardware in the first place, it could be that the best and most affordable option to play Cyberpunk 2077 is by streaming it. Google’s also taking advantage of that by currently bundling Stadia Premiere for free when you buy Cyberpunk 2077 until December 18. Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that Warren is streaming using a wired 1GBps connection, so results may vary depending on how good your internet connection is. Reception is nonetheless largely positive on Stadia’s Reddit, with one post with 93% upvotes saying, “I have never in a million years thought that i would be able to play a game like Cyberpunk 2077 on my shitty laptop. But it runs perfect!” “I didnt need to buy a high end gaming computer, playstation 5 or Xbox Series X. Just my shitty ass laptop and Stadia. This is just perfect.” Another shared a photo of their game running at a “stunning” 1080p/60. However, comments below it also have complaints from other users, claiming that the images are blurry and making some of the text unreadable. Others have suggested setting the game to visual mode to solve this. Nonetheless, it still seems like you’ll have a considerably better result than the game’s severe frame rate issues and poor resolution on console. The next-gen console upgrades meanwhile still aren’t due until sometime in 2021. If that’s convinced you to grab a ticket to Night City right away, then you might also want to check out which lifepath in Cyberpunk 2077 you should start with.
