Google Stadia is an intriguing platform that offers console-quality gaming on smart devices, and a way to play your games on any device you choose, at the cost of massive bandwidth and a monthly charge. But there might be another price to pay too. Users who have been streaming through their Chromecast have been reporting overheating issues with the little units, claiming that Stadia streamed games are just too much for them.
Threads have been popping up on the Stadia subreddit, stating that their games just cut out and their Chromecast Ultra was almost too hot to touch. Responses number in the low 10s, but many of them appear to be suffering from the same problem.
Typically all it takes is someone playing a game over their Chromecast via Stadia for 3-4 hours and it will lead to a shut down. But Google denies that this is an issue.
"Thanks for bringing this to our attention," it said in a statement. "We know any sort of heat on a device can be worrisome, but we can confirm there is no thermal overheating issue with Chromecast Ultra. During normal usage (like watching cat videos on YouTube), the surface of the device may get warm to the touch, but this is working as designed.
It went on to claim, via PCGamesN, that extensive playtesting had been completed with Chromecast Ultras and found no overheating problems at all.
This doesn't address the kind of environment such tests took place in, however. That may not factor in ambient temperature, humidity, or the ease of airflow around a Chromecast Ultra.
Google instead suggests that users use its Google Stadia support forum to find the problem.