The Stadia controller’s Google Assistant button now works during gameplay

When Google announced Stadia, it talked up what the Assistant could do for players in-game: its voice assistant would answer gameplay questions and even pull up video tutorials to help with particularly tricky bits. We’re now one step closer to that reality, as basic Assistant functionality is finally accessible during gameplay on Stadia.

Now, this isn’t quite the AI-driven gaming future Google promised us; the Assistant won’t detect what game you’re playing and offer contextual information. So far, it’s just the basics: you can ask general knowledge questions or find out about the weather or control your smart home devices. Queries like “how do I finish this level” won’t net you any info.

The new functionality is only live on TVs — the Assistant button still doesn’t do anything during gameplay on mobile or desktop. Still, it’s progress. At launch, the button literally didn’t do anything; it wasn’t until the following month that Google enabled the functionality on Stadia’s homescreen. Hopefully more developments are coming soon.

• Source:
• Google