Google Stadia equips servers with support for Nvidia graphics cards

Google could soon add support for Nvidia GPUs to its Stadia game streaming service. A code change indicates that the search engine group has provided the servers with the necessary drivers. Google may still have plans for the service. Ever since Google Stadia was launched in 2019, the service has been powered by custom AMD GPUs. The servers would be equipped with AMD Radeon Pro V340 chips or comparable graphics cards.

As 9to5google reported, there is now information that Google may add support for additional graphics hardware to the underlying Immersive Stream service. They should be Nvidia GPUs. Game Streaming Infographic: Has Google’s Stadia Experiment Failed?

Notes in the modified Linux kernel

The information comes from the modified Linux kernel version used by Google Stadia or Immersive Stream. This is, of course, open source software, so the changes are publicly visible. Last month, Google added a way to provide its own Kokoro builder with drivers for Nvidia GPUs to the code. The drivers themselves have not yet been released. It’s unclear if Google is preparing a hardware upgrade for Stadia. It also remains unclear which Nvidia graphics cards could be used in connection with the game streaming service. Google has not yet made an official statement about this.

There have been indications for some time that Stadia has failed and that Google is considering terminating the platform. Only the technology behind the service may continue to exist in the future. Internally, the priority for Stadia has already been lowered. As part of the Google I/O, it was announced that Google had removed the gaming tab from the store and hid Stadia in the smart home area.