Long-time video game enjoyers will likely remember the rise and fall of Google (News - Alert) Stadia, the cloud gaming platform that was prematurely lauded as “the Netflix of games” that Google completely shut down services for this past January. The-long-story-short of it is simple: Stadia made it so games could be purchased and played with zero downloads required. This was possible because of Stadia’s data centers (plus its support of high-dynamic-range, or HDR (News - Alert), video) that allowed players to stream their games from tablets and PCs via internet browser windows, or even on smart TVs with the right hardware.

But while this wasn’t enough of a hook for Stadia to gain traction, that doesn’t mean Google has exiled itself from the gaming space. There’s still technology worth tackling to make a cloud gaming platform-esque experience happen, even if it wasn’t a project like Stadia’s time to shine.

Enter Ubitus, a cloud gaming enabler via GPU virtualization, hybrid cloud deployment, and new ways to stream. In late March, Ubitus and Google Cloud officially announced a strategic partnership to advance more sustainable cloud streaming in the gaming industry. By collaborating, Google Cloud will serve as Ubitus’ primary cloud services provider (CSP (News - Alert)) and will run the majority of the company’s workloads. In tandem, Ubitus’ GameCloud will be available for gamers on Google Cloud Marketplace, which will also provide developers with more access to cloud gaming technologies.

With this hand-in-hand Ubitus-Google Cloud venture, game companies will be able to improve cost-performance ratios by moving hardware demands to the cloud, enabling players to play select games on smart TVs and mobile devices. (i.e. similar to objectives of Stadia, but without swimming-upstream types of investments)

Ubitus has stated that it is “the world’s most scalable and flexible end-to-end cloud gaming system for fixed and wireless network service providers, game manufacturers and OEMs,” but the company is also very much leaning on Google’s AI, ML, GPU and VM resources. With Google Cloud’s global infrastructure, Ubitus will use the resources available for improving the quality and power of its streaming and gaming-on-demand services, and for streamlining cloud game distribution worldwide. (Ubitus has VR/AR headset gaming in its sights, as well.)

Per Wesley Kuo, CEO of Ubitus: “Working with Google Cloud, we will provide one of the most flexible and powerful streaming services to meet customers' go-to-market strategies. This partnership will truly enable more easily distributed, high-fidelity and interactive gaming content globally.”

Per Jack Buser, Director at Google Cloud for Games: "As we’ve looked to the future of cloud streaming for games at Google, we found that Ubitus' robust offerings set a new bar for the games industry. Our partnership further underscores the commitment to powering live service games on any connected device.