Up to this point, it has been a bit of a challenge and an investment for developers to get their games on Stadia, as the service uses Linux servers. This has limited the number of games that can release on Stadia but soon, the situation may change, as Stadia is reportedly working on getting Windows titles running.
Similarly to Valve with Steam Proton, Google has reportedly developed its own similar solution to get Windows games running on Linux. According to The Verge, Google will unveil this at its Google for Games Developer Summit next week. One of the panels that will take place during the summit is titled “how to write a Windows emulator for Linux from scratch”.
If Google can get this working well on live Stadia servers and not just test environments, then we could see a huge uptick in the number of titles added to the service, as many more games will no longer face compatibility issues. This is precisely the same issue Valve looked to solve with the Steam Deck, a Linux-based handheld gaming PC. Using Steam Proton, Windows-based titles can run on Linux without modification and over time, the feature has improved considerably.
The Google for Games Developer Summit takes place on the 15th of March, so expect to hear more on this next week.
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KitGuru Says: In just the last few years, the state of gaming on Linux has improved considerably, so I have little doubt that Google does have a good method for running Windows games on Stadia servers. However, due to the Stadia business model, it is still a tough sell for many games.