While the Summit will revolve around plenty of different gaming-related subjects, this one in particular is focused on Stadia. It’s labeled “How To Write A Windows Emulator For Linux From Scratch?,” and directly mentions running Windows games on Stadia. Specifically, the panel description says that it’s a detailed overview of the technology behind Google’s solution for running unmodified Windows games on the service. This solution is likely a way to make work easier for developers in getting their games onto the Stadia platform.
Google could use compatibility layer to get Windows games on Stadia
Based on the information in the panel description, Google has developed an emulator that enables Windows games to run unmodified on its cloud gaming service. If that sounds a little bit like what Valve is doing with the Steam Deck, that’s because it probably is. The Steam Deck runs on the Linux-based Steam OS and uses the compatibility layer Proton to run Windows games unmodified. There’s a lot more to it than that obviously. But that’s the simple breakdown. Google could have done the same thing here. Built its own compatibility layer that lets you play unmodified Windows games. This would open up a lot of possibilities for newly added titles. And developers would probably have a lot less work to do for games to run, since they may not need to port games directly like they have been. Of course, this could all be way off base. But if it’s not, Google might be able to get a lot more games on Stadia. And that in the long run would be a really good thing for Stadia subscribers. As it would mean more content to make it worth playing games on the platform. Google’s games dev summit happens on March 15, which is next week Tuesday. So it won’t be long before more information pops up about what’s going on.
