Google Stadia users are reporting overheating issues with the Chromecast Ultra

Even with Google behind it, the Stadia game streaming service is not without early launch problems. Apart from the missing features, users who already received the Founders’ and Premiere Edition packages this week are reporting severe overheating issues with the included Chromecast Ultra device.

In a recent Reddit post, several users are complaining that their Chromecast Ultra streaming device is overheating after just 3-4 hours of use. The original poster reports that the problems occurred while they were “in the middle of a fight in Destiny 2” when their Chromecast Ultra “died and lost connectivity to the network.” It looks like the device shut itself down to prevent any further damage, and the user unplugged it so it can cool down. Other redditers chimed in, commenting that they had similar experiences, some even having the device shutting off more than once.

Some Reddit users say that the device has been known to overheat just by streaming Netflix movies for a few hours. Movie streaming usually needs 24 / 25 fps processing, but the 60 fps streaming enforced by Stadia appears to require too much processing power and the cooling system is not yet optimized for such loads.

Google’s Stadia is clearly off to a rough start, and some analysts claim that the service is just dead on arrival with all the missing features and the hardware problems. It would be interesting to see how Microsoft will be handling its own game streaming platform next year. If anything, maybe there is something to learn from Google’s troubles.