Stadia won't let you play games over mobile data on your Pixels

Yesterday, Google confirmed that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 4 series phones will also support Stadia at launch, along with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a series. 9to5Google now reports that the upcoming game steaming service will require a Wi-Fi connection to play games on these phones at launch. At least initially, you will not be able to play games on mobile networks.

In an interview on The Vergecast, Google's hardware chief Rick Osterloh said, "It's just going to run on Wi-Fi to start" when asked about how Stadia would work on Pixel phones. Google has also sent a statement to 9to5Google confirming the requirement, saying that it is "focused on making sure Stadia Founders receive the best possible experience at launch over a WiFi connection."

The Stadia Help page notes that playing games on a phone will also require a "reliable internet connection (10 Mbps or greater is recommended)." However, the connection type isn't specified. While Pixel owners won't be able to play games without a Wi-Fi connection at launch, it is possible that the restriction may be removed in the future. Microsoft's Stadia rival, Project xCloud doesn't have this restriction and lets users play games even on either 5GHz Wi-Fi or mobile data connection 10Mbps down.

The Google SVP also revealed during the interview that the Pixel phones are the first to be compatible with the game streaming service as the company has "been able to test it for a long time."