Google Stadia Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn't run at a stable 60fps

The promise of Google Stadia: high quality visuals and rock-solid performance streamed to your browser. You’re promised a smooth ride in the fastest performance car available; but it would appear that’s not exactly the case. For example, the Google Stadia Red Dead Redemption 2 port doesn’t run at a solid 60fps. 

Posted on social media by the performance analysts at Digital Foundry, the Stadia port of Rockstar’s Western video game is not entirely smooth on the streaming service.

Those playing through Stadia’s recommended Chromecast Ultra will be treated to a 30fps experience in Red Dead Redemption 2. While not ideal for a service that boasts such a high technical makeup, recent impressions appear that the 30fps lock is at least fairly stable.

It’s when the Google Stadia Red Dead Redemption 2 port attempts to run at an ideal 60fps in the Chrome browser where users will run into issues. Preliminary tests by Digital Foundry reveal that the game runs at an unstable performance level.

The group state that the two modes are similar to performance and quality modes on Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. While Chromecast users enjoy the game at a reasonably solid 30fps with 4K output, those who play through the Chrome browser will experience an unstable 1080p 60fps.

Interesting to see Stadia RDR2 capture out there running at an unstable 60fps. A bit tired here and Stadia barely runs on my home connection right now for some reason, but Saturday night's Chromecast captures are indeed 30fps, while Chrome browser output seem to be aiming for 60. pic.twitter.com/4p7SXk7JPW

— Digital Foundry (@digitalfoundry) November 18, 2019

We recently traveled to Google’s offices in London to try Stadia for ourselves. We called it “an incredible feat when it decides to work.” It’s peak Google. Read our review-in-progress here.