What you need to know
- Google today focused on the gaming promise of the Chrome OS platform and Chromebooks.
- It highlighted a new Premium games section for the Play Store on Chromebooks and also offers Chromebook buyers 3-months of free Stadia.
- Google promises more updates coming soon.
When you think of gaming platforms, you may think consoles, and then PCs maybe even mobile. But Google's trying to get you to include Chromebooks in that list as well. The company today highlighted a couple of changes it was making to its computing platform to make it a better gaming platform.
The hidden Premium section in the Play Store is now official and live, and you'll be able to see games Google thinks you'll want to play on your Chromebook. The games themselves aren't particularly impressive, being more casual mobile gams. Perhaps Google hopes that gaming on Chromebooks catches on enough for developers to build discrete experiences befitting the name premium. It would have been nice to have one of those at launch, though.
If the Play Store isn't your thing, Google is also highlighting new perks for Chromebook owners. You can now get 3 months of Stadia Pro free if you have a Chromebook made in June 2017 or newer. Google says that Chromebooks launched before that date aren't likely to provide an optimal experience. The Pixelbook, Pixel Slate, and Pixelbook Go are all eligible for Stadia, so you don't need to worry if you have one of those.
Google also highlights the availability of Nvidia's GeForce Now and dedicated controllers for gaming. It adds that there are more updates on the way, but it'll need them to compete with other gaming platforms. Not just Windows PCs and consoles, but even iPadOS as well.
