What you need to know
- The ASUS ROG Phone III will come pre-loaded with Google Stadia.
- The partnership runs through 2021, and the Stadia app will be included on all next-generation ROG Phones in supported territories.
- Stadia added support for several new phones this week, including several popular Samsung flagships and a handful of gaming phones, such as the ASUS ROG Phone I and II.
Google's cloud-based game streaming service Stadia received a lot of negative attention when it first launched. Most of it centered around the lack of features, making the service seem more like a beta than a finished product. Since then, Google has consistently made updates to the platform, improving it month after month.
Just this week, Google announced support for more smartphones, including many popular Samsung models and a handful of gaming phones. Google has also promised to launch the free tier of Stadia within the next few months.
However, as Stadia has been improving, new competitors have been popping up left and right. Microsoft has xCloud, Sony has PlayStation Now, and most recently NVIDIA's GeForce Now exited beta. With all of these new services coming to the market, each one is looking for a way to get an edge over the others.
That's why it's no surprise to see Google is striking up a partnership with ASUS, the manufacturer of the popular ROG gaming phones. According to ASUS, the partnership runs through 2021, and Stadia will come pre-loaded on every ROG Phone in participating territories, which at this time includes 14 countries.
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- United States
We don't know when to expect ASUS's next-generation ROG Phone, but it should make its debut before the end of 2020. Until then, gaming fans can still pick up an ASUS ROG Phone II that now has support for Stadia, even though it won't come pre-loaded. In our review, Harish called it "more than just a great gaming phone."
Google isn't the only one making deals for its game streaming service. Back at Samsung's Unpacked event, it mentioned an upcoming partnership with Microsoft to create a premium cloud-based game streaming experience. However, we'll have to wait till later this year to hear more about that.
