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Stadia fans can now jump into The Elder Scrolls Online as it has released on Stadia and it's free to claim on Stadia Pro. It seems it's only for a limited time though and will leave Stadia Pro on July 16 so if you are interested you might want to grab it now.

The Elder Scrolls Online on Stadia has cross-play with Windows/macOS, cross-progression and if you own the expansions on Steam it appears they're picked up on Stadia fine too. That's about where the good parts end though really.

We tested it here and it repeatedly put us into 720p and we had to use the Stadia Plus plugin to force 1080p. Stadia really, badly, needs a built-in resolution picker as I've seen games do this repeatedly with no other way than the external Stadia Plus plugin to help. Their own performance picker doesn't force a resolution, only set the limits of what it will do overall.

As for the actual game, it's quite a let-down. If you've read previous Stadia articles from me, you will know by now I quite enjoy the service for the convenience it offers and it has largely been a positive experience for me. Destiny 2, Assassins Creed and Division 2 all work very well on it. The Elder Scrolls Online is a different story. Like PUBG, it's clearly been ported at a lower visual quality and it's also locked to 30FPS. Lower visuals at 30FPS is not going to win anyone over.

In other Stadia news, Google has now reduced the Premier Edition price to $99/£89.99 for their fancy Stadia Controller and a Chromecast Ultra.

See their full blog post here or head over to Stadia.com.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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18 comments
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Trollwut Jun 18, 2020
Stupid question... but AFAIK Stadia runs on Linux, so why don't we get an ESO Linux client?
TheRiddick Jun 18, 2020
Because Stadia is not going to release Linux versions of any of these games, or the devs/publishers.
Likely google has it in a contract that it must be exclusive to Stadia!

I find it funny people think this is going to help Linux gaming in any way, shape, or form...

In saying that I do hope Stadia gets ALLOT better and increases Value for customers, maybe in 5 years it will be decent... (assuming it isn't killed long before then, which is likely)


Last edited by TheRiddick on 18 June 2020 at 3:54 am UTC
Purple Library Guy Jun 18, 2020
Quoting: TheRiddickBecause Stadia is not going to release Linux versions of any of these games, or the devs/publishers.
Likely google has it in a contract that it must be exclusive to Stadia!

I find it funny people think this is going to help Linux gaming in any way, shape, or form...
It probably already has. Recent improvements in how certain game engines handle Vulkan probably have something to do with Stadia.
That's where I think Stadia will, half against Google's will, help Linux gaming: To make Stadia work well they have to make the Linux game development toolchain, drivers and so forth work well. And to get games on Stadia requires lots of game developers to develop on Linux. That in turn will create a pool of people with skills and "itches to scratch" which will accelerate development on open source infrastructure related to Linux gaming--and of course just a bunch of developers for whom adding Linux as a release target holds no terrors.

I don't think Stadia games will get published as proper Linux games, at least not while Stadia is a going concern. But there should be some useful indirect effects.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 18 June 2020 at 7:59 am UTC
ZeroPointEnergy Jun 18, 2020
I don't get the convenience argument. I own ESO on Steam. Push install, wait a little, push play. Works perfectly without any issues.

I also don't get the constant call for native clients. Do you really think they would do a good job and properly support it? There is zero downsides to using Proton here. We will get enough native games when Linux is actually competitive as a market for selling games.
drlamb Jun 18, 2020
Quoting: ZeroPointEnergyI don't get the convenience argument. I own ESO on Steam. Push install, wait a little, push play. Works perfectly without any issues.

And if I don't have a computer or device capable of playing ESO?

Quoting: ZeroPointEnergyI also don't get the constant call for native clients. Do you really think they would do a good job and properly support it? There is zero downsides to using Proton here. We will get enough native games when Linux is actually competitive as a market for selling games.

This is exactly what Google is doing. The upside to the Stadia port is now the developers of ESO have Linux/Vulkan experience.


Last edited by drlamb on 18 June 2020 at 12:42 pm UTC
randyl Jun 19, 2020
Quoting: Purple Library GuyThat's where I think Stadia will, half against Google's will, help Linux gaming: To make Stadia work well they have to make the Linux game development toolchain, drivers and so forth work well. And to get games on Stadia requires lots of game developers to develop on Linux. That in turn will create a pool of people with skills and "itches to scratch" which will accelerate development on open source infrastructure related to Linux gaming--and of course just a bunch of developers for whom adding Linux as a release target holds no terrors.

I don't think Stadia games will get published as proper Linux games, at least not while Stadia is a going concern. But there should be some useful indirect effects.
If Stadia lasts long enough a side effect could be to sell Linux clients. If they're 80% of the way there a little more for an extra revenue stream could be attractive. It may take time, patience, and a little effort.
dvd Jun 19, 2020
Quoting: drlambAnd if I don't have a computer or device capable of playing ESO?

This is such a lame argument. If you don't have hardware able to run that you can't use the bandwidth needed to stream it either. A good gigabit connection needs a beefier PC than the minimum requirements of ESO. (not even mentioning the hefty prices of capable routers)
drlamb Jun 19, 2020
Quoting: dvd
Quoting: drlambAnd if I don't have a computer or device capable of playing ESO?

This is such a lame argument. If you don't have hardware able to run that you can't use the bandwidth needed to stream it either. A good gigabit connection needs a beefier PC than the minimum requirements of ESO. (not even mentioning the hefty prices of capable routers)

So you need a PC to play ESO on Stadia on a phone? Good to know. Gigabit can be handled by a raspberry Pi.

25 10Mbps Internet connection (Wired or Wireless) + an android phone is all you need for Stadia.


Last edited by drlamb on 19 June 2020 at 7:38 pm UTC
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