AMD To Power Google's New Video Game Streaming Service; Shares Up 9%

(RTTNews) - Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) are currently up 9% on Tuesday after Alphabet's Google confirmed that the chipmaker will power its new game streaming platform.

Earlier on Tuesday Google had unveiled a new game streaming platform called Stadia. At the event in connection with the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Google executives said the partnership with AMD will lead to thousands of exclusive custom AMD gaming chips in Alphabet data centers to run Stadia.

Google aims to topple the domination of Sony and Microsoft in the gaming industry. Stadia allows people to play high-end games without purchasing expensive consoles or computers. Google said Stadia will launch in 2019 starting in the United States, Canada, the UK and "most of Europe." The tech giant did not reveal the price of the service.

Stadia will run on "any screen type" and will work on desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets and phones at launch. Stadia will allow players to jump into online games in minutes, Google said. Typically gamers have to wait hours for a game to download on a computer or have to buy a physical copy.

AMD is currently trading at $25.49, up $2.24 or 9.62%, on the Nasdaq.