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Google Stadia is going to burn through mobile data plans in no time

Google Stadia is going to burn through mobile data plans in no time

Google's Stadia streaming platform is now in the wild and we can get a decent picture as to what the service's mobile data appetite is going to be.

Stadia only works with Wi-Fi and ethernet connections right now, with the option to play on mobile data coming in the future. Regardless, it's looking like the service is going to be burning through most mobile data packages in no time.

As reported by GamesBeat, playing a game at 1080p 60fps was using 119MB of data per minute, clocking in at over 7GB per hour. Trying to play at 4K would burn through much more than that, obviously. Meanwhile, Digital Trends has Destiny 2 as ripping through 10.2GB of data per hour.

A video streaming service like Netflix uses around 3GB of data per hour.

Google Stadia launched yesterday (November 19th) boasting a line-up of 22 games. That's ten more than was initially announced, with the search and software giant almost doubling its release slate just days before the platform rolled out

The service is also missing many of the features that were announced, with some coming towards the end of this year and during 2020. 


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.