At long last, Google Stadia is available to download on the latest LG smart TVs. But is it too late for the service to regain its steam?
LG’s gaming TVs are some of the best on the market, with brilliant contrast, premium OLED panels, low input lag, exceptional response time, and a host of gamer-centric features including VRR (variable refresh rate) and Nvidia G-Sync (for connecting from compatible PCs). But there’s an additional feather in LG’s cap these days, and that’s support for the Google Stadia gaming platform. We heard back in January 2021 that the Stadia game-streaming app would eventually be coming to LG TVs such as the LG C1, LG G1, LG A1, and 2020’s LG CX. As of December 2021, the Stadia service is available to download on any LG smart TV running webOS 5.0 and above, which basically includes 2020 models and onwards. For any gamers already using an LG OLED TV for their games, Stadia’s availability is an additional bonus to a suite of gaming functionality. But we wouldn’t recommend buying any particular TV based on this capability alone. It seems unlikely that Stadia’s appearance on even the best gaming TVs will halt the platform’s steady decline, and possible disappearance from the market altogether. Oh, Google Stadia. The much-hyped, game-streaming service was meant to be the polished market disruptor that realized the promise of platforms like OnLive, a long-dead predecessor that launched too early for the world to truly take notice. The concept of game streaming is simple: by putting the onus of processing on a server, the device displaying the game needs to do very little work.
