Stadia has been in the news lately for generously giving out Stadia Premiere bundles to YouTube Premium subscribers, but that's not the only thing Google's cloud gaming service is giving away. It has now implemented a new messaging system, allowing users to send written messages back and forth between friends who are also on Stadia.

As you'd expect, messaging on Stadia is a pretty simple affair. You can write messages to individual users, as well as to groups. Viewing a user's profile presents a new option to send them a message. Conversations show up in a new tab alongside the friend list in the mobile app and on the web. Stadia messaging should work on Chromecast Ultra devices, too, with Smart Replies making it easier to text via controllers.

Chatting works across screens and works with individual users and groups.

Stadia already has voice chat, but it's good to see actual text message capabilities finally starting to roll out. This is one Google service where users might actually welcome more messaging features. The usefulness of this depends, of course, on if you actually know other people who use Stadia. Perhaps Google's current giveaway will help get more gamers on board.

Stadia messaging is rolling out widely now. Download the latest version of the Stadia app from APK Mirror or the Play Store to make sure you don't get left behind.

UPDATE: 2020/11/16 2:33pm PST BY CALEB POTTS

Rolling out now

Updated to reflect that messaging on Stadia is rolling out now.

Stadia Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
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Source: Stadia