Google has started to roll out Assistant functionality to its Stadia game streaming service.
On Reddit, a Google representative named Chris confirmed that “some” of Assistant’s features are now available.
To start, Assistant will only work on TVs via Google Chromecast. Therefore, it’s unusable when streaming to Google Pixel phones or a Chrome browser.
Further, Stadia currently only runs Assistant on the home screen, not in actual games. As a result, Assistant can only be used to launch games and answer general questions.
Interestingly, this makes Stadia’s Assistant functionality more limited than it is on Xbox One. On Microsoft’s gaming platform, Assistant can be used to turn the console on or off, take screenshots, pause and resume content and more.
It’s unclear when Stadia will receive a larger suite of Assistant features. Over the past several months, Google has touted the Stadia controller’s built-in Assistant functionality as one of its most distinguishing elements. However, Assistant was one of several features that wasn’t available when Stadia launched on November 19th.
As you wait for greater Assistant functionality, December’s free Stadia Pro games can now be downloaded. More games will also launch of Stadia by the end of the year, including Darksiders: Genesis, Borderlands 3 and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
