Earlier today, NVIDIA announced that GeForce Now, the company’s game streaming service, is now available on iOS via a Safari web app. Wasting little time, Google has made a similar announcement regarding Stadia, revealing that a browser-based version of its own streaming service will enter into testing on iOS in the next few weeks. After months of back and forth between Apple and streaming platforms, it seems that the game streaming floodgates are indeed about to open on iOS.
Google announced the news in a post to the Stadia subreddit today, saying that in a few weeks it will be kicking off the first phase of iOS testing via a web app. Whether or not this testing phase will be invite-only is unknown at this point, as is how long the testing period will last before iOS support is rolled out to everyone, but at least it’s on the way.
It’s been quite the odyssey for game streaming services looking to get on iOS. Once upon a time, Apple’s App Store rules forbid them entirely, but recently, Apple updated those rules to make it possible for game streaming services to launch on the App Store, though not exactly realistic. Apple itself has suggested that streaming services looking to avoid the App Store’s rules use Safari web apps as a workaround, and that’s precisely what GeForce Now, Stadia, and Amazon Luna are doing.
In addition to the announcement of iOS testing, Google also revealed a Stadia promo for Cyberpunk 2077. Anyone who purchases the game through Stadia before December 18th will qualify to receive a Stadia Premiere Edition for free. Stadia Premiere Edition includes a Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra, and normally costs $99.99. If you’re looking to get into Stadia, it could be worth purchasing Cyberpunk 2077 to get the hardware you need to play on a TV for free.
Finally, Google said in its update today that Stadia will be heading to more countries in Europe by the end of the year. Unfortunately, Google didn’t share a list of countries slated to get Stadia, so we’ll let you know when more is revealed.
Keyword: Stadia will soon enter iOS testing as Google reveals Cyberpunk 2077 promo