Google Stadia vs. Xbox One X game resolution and frame rate comparison
Xbox One X comes out on top.

Google Stadia is a cloud game streaming service that promises a 10.7 teraflops (tflops) gaming console you can access on your 4K display or your smartphone. Ever since the service launched, many users have compared the visuals Stadia offers with those of the Xbox One X.
Unlike the upcoming Xbox Series X which is rumored to feature 12 tflops of performance, the Xbox One X only has 6 tflops. On paper, Stadia games should look much better than what Xbox One X offers, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
We compared a number of Xbox One X Enhanced games with those available on Stadia to see what the differences were. When there were doubts about image quality or frame rate (FPS), we referenced Digital Foundry's analyses or reached out to the developer for confirmation. You can take a look at the chart below that breaks down the resolution and frame rate of games available on both platforms.
Game | Xbox One X resolution | Xbox One X frame rate | Stadia resolution | Stadia frame rate | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Assassin's Creed Odyssey | Dynamic 4K | 30 FPS | 4K | 30 FPS | Stadia may employ dynamic resolution |
Attack on Titan 2 | 4K | 30 FPS | 4K | 30 FPS | - |
Borderlands 3 | 1080p or 1800p | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | 4K | 30 FPS | Stadia may render at 1800p |
Destiny 2 | 4K | 30 FPS | 1080p | 60 FPS | - |
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 | 1080p | 60 FPS | 1080p | 30 FPS | - |
Final Fantasy XV | 1080p or Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | 1080p | 30 FPS | - |
Ghost Recon Breakpoint | 1152p or 1800p | 30 FPS | 4K | 30 FPS | Stadia may employ dynamic resolution |
Kine | 4K | 60 FPS | 4K | 60 FPS | - |
Metro Exodus | 4K | 30 FPS | 4K | 30 FPS | - |
Mortal Kombat 11 | 1800p | 60 FPS | 4K | 60 FPS | Stadia may render at 1800p |
Rage 2 | 1080p | 60 FPS | 1080p | 60 FPS | - |
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 4K | 30 FPS | 1440p | 30 FPS | - |
Rise of the Tomb Raider | 1080p or 4K | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | 1080p or 4K | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | - |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 1080p or Dynamic 4K | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | 1080p or 4K | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | - |
Thumper | 4K | 60 FPS | 4K | 60 FPS | - |
Trials Rising | 4K | 60 FPS | 4K | 60 FPS | - |
Wolfenstein: Youngblood | Dynamic 4K or 4K | 60 FPS or 30 FPS | 1440p | 60 FPS | Stadia may employ dynamic resolution |
The Xbox One X and Stadia were connected to the same Sony 4K TV and used the exact same Game Mode settings. Stadia was played on a 330 Mbps connection with an ethernet cable attached to the Chromecast Ultra. Some games like Red Dead Redemption 2 render at 60 FPS when played on a laptop or smartphone at 720p or 1080p.
Overall, I would say that Stadia and Xbox One X offer similar picture quality. However, Stadia, in general, appears a little softer because it's a compressed video stream being beamed to your 4K display. This is why it was difficult to determine the exact resolution Stadia was rendering select games like Mortal Kombat 11 or Wolfenstein: Youngblood at.
Some of the biggest surprises were Destiny 2, Final Fantasy XV, and Red Dead Redemption 2. All of these games look decidedly blurry when compared to the Xbox One X versions. However, Destiny 2 renders at 60 FPS, so which platform you want to play on is your decision. Do you want better picture quality or frame rate? Final Fantasy XV and Red Dead Redemption 2 seem to be suffering from a lack of optimization for Stadia.
A good way to start
This bundle includes everything you need to get started with Stadia. It includes the controller, Chromecast Ultra, Destiny 2, Samurai Shodown, and three months of the Stadia Pro subscription for you and a friend. It's a great way to begin your game streaming journey.
UHD streaming
You can buy everything together or you can get just the basics for Stadia. The Chromecast Ultra is available to purchase now and lets you stream 4K TV as well as play games.
A firm grip on what's needed
The Stadia Controller is all you need to use Stadia if you already have the Chromecast Ultra. You can also use it on your other devices. Get the Wasabi colored one, it's gorgeous.
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Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.
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As I've said previously it's pretty obvious that outside of the exclusive game none of the titles have had any work on them to utilise the power of the system, they've just been quick ports to get titles in the service. So outside of the few clearly poorly optimised games they're all just carbon copies of the One X equivalent.
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I don't know about Gylt. It seems to be rather blurry on my 4K display through Chromecast Ultra. Since it's an exclusive, there's just no point of comparison.
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Stadia is trash. Nvidia's streaming service, Geforce Now is so much better. Instant access to hundreds of games that you can play if you own them on steam, Epic, Origin etc and they run on ultra settings with high fps.
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Though I agree with the article about it (Stadia) not being all that great... The point isn't to beat Xbox or PS, the point is to bring better than plain Mobile games or console quality games to a more portable solution. We all know Apple's first few gen iPhones weren't pretty or top end, yet look at how popular they are now and still aren't the best equipped. It's not about being the best, it's about appealing to the most and being simple enough to use for gamers and newcomers alike. Newcomers don't care about all this jargon and terminology, nor would they understand it all anyway. Don't get complacent about gaming because look how complacency ruined MS chance at Mobile!! Even Sony is a drop in the bucket anymore when it comes to phones or PCs.
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They are already launching their own compareble service called the xcloud
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If the point isn't to beat Xbox One X, then they shouldn't have advertised it as a 4K cloud console when it can't deliver those resolutions for major games.
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I mean, the One X can't deliver those resolutions for all major games either, you might as well argue that the only true 4K machine is a 2080 TI. The amount of Xbox games that use dynamic resolution is staggering and it's simply to be able to tick the box and say, yeah this game hits 4K occasionally so we have a 4K console. You're basically saying that because Google has said Stadia is a 4K console that every single game has to be in 4K or its a failure but you aren't putting the same level of scrutiny on Microsoft's 4K console, why is that?
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So I guess Google's idiocy about negative latency was basically their hellbent intent to generate negative PR? 🤣🤣🤣
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The thing about negative latency is that it requires multiple instances of the same game running at the same time I believe. How will that work with a title like Destiny 2 that's online?
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