Elain Brown Tech 08.10.2022 01:Aug AM EDT

Google Stadia's Party Stream: Here's What You Have to Know

Google Stadia is rolling out with a new feature called Party Stream and a few new updates to the platform.

Stadia is Google's game streaming platform. With this update rolling out, it will now be easier for gamers to share their gaming experience with friends or other spectators publicly using YouTube.

Google Stadia will release a new feature called Paty Stream for players who want to stream their gaming experience live to a selected number of people.

The Party Stream feature caters to gamers who do not wish to broadcast their games to the entire world, but instead wish to share them with a small group of friends and family.

Google Stadia: Party Stream Feature

Google Stadia's Party Stream can only be broadcast privately for up to nine players, and they can choose whether to be in the stream to just watch or to join the game.

As reported by Engadget, "The gaming industry has already seen platforms like Discord (with its Go Live feature) tap into this need to gamestream to a select few."

In addition, using Party Stream to share games with friends on Stadia eliminates the need for players to download a third-party encoder while using Twitch, which is a hassle for players who use Stadia.

During these broadcasts, participants are able to make use of the party chat capabilities that are available on Stadia. These features include the ability to use emoji, voice reactions, or send messages.

Players who are conducting the stream can see who is messaging and sending reactions, as well as see who wants to join in and who is leaving the stream.

The ability to stream gaming to YouTube directly from Google's servers without the need for any specialized hardware or software on a user's end is one of the advantages that come with using the Stadia platform.

Even if users do not have access to fancy extra features like showcasing a gamer's camera feed or adding overlays, broadcasting games to other people is now easier than ever before thanks to the integration of YouTube by Stadia.

It is important to note that these features, for now, will be available only on desktop and Android devices. However, it is expected to be rolled out to more devices in the near future.

Over the course of this week, the new "Party Stream" feature for Google Stadia will become available to all users of the platform.

Google Stadia's YouTube Feature Update

Google Stadia is also adding a useful new feature to its already existing support for YouTube. Since its first release, the integrated YouTube streaming has received support for 4K videos, along with HDR when it is available.

According to 9to5Google, now Stadia is responding to a problem that is frequently voiced by streamers. In the past, Stadia would generate a YouTube livestream that was tailored to the game players were currently participating in.

If players are streaming their game and want to switch to playing a different game, it will start a new stream and would require a different URL.

However, that will now change as Google Stadia now updates the feature and releases what is called a "Resume Livestream" option to the gamers who are streaming their experience. Resuming the livestream will allow them to retain the same YouTube URL and their active viewers.