Stadia Pricing Finally Revealed

After a long grueling pause for suspense, Google finally revealed the final details for their gaming platform, Stadia.

For those of you not familiar yet. I’ll run through Stadia in bullet point format for quick digestion.

Stadia facts:

• Google’s new gaming platform aimed at bringing together players and watchers from all over the world
• Integrated with Youtube, which means you can click to play directly from Youtube  
• Cloud gaming in its first form. No consoles or downloads needed here.
• A Stadia controller is available. Although, players will be able to use just their laptops, tablets and phones to play too
• Available to play on TV, desktop, laptop, tablet and on Pixel smartphones

That’s pretty much all Google revealed earlier this year. So Stadia was submerged in a cloud of mystery from the time it was announced. The only thing Google gave away was that it was going to be awesome for both players and watchers in the gaming industry. Stadia is integrated with Youtube because the video platform already has such a huge gaming community. For more on the initial Stadia announcement, check out my other LinkedIn article.

Okay now that we all know Stadia exists and that it’s coming soon, let’s see if the hype is really that real.

How much will Stadia cost?

If Stadia is not affordable nor accessible, which is a mission that Google has recently been quite passionate about considering their Live Caption release, then it's not going to be any better than console games. Another challenge Google has to tackle is the upcoming Apple Arcade, which plans on bringing high quality AAA games to mobile.

However, Stadia is already setting itself apart from Apple Arcade. While Arcade looks like it will be a subscription service, Stadia is definitely not. First, there’s a “Founder’s Edition” for $129. With that you get:

• at least 31 games from 21 different publishers
• Chromecast Ultra
• limited edition night blue Stadia Controller
• 3 months of Stadia Pro
• 3 month Stadia Pro buddy pass to gift to a friend
• first access to Stadia when it launches
• first pick at a Stadia Name
• Full Destiny 2 experience

The Founder's Edition is available now for preorder. After the 3 months you’ll be switched to the $10 per month Stadia Pro plan, which seems to work a bit like Netflix. You'll get unlimited access to games that Google adds to your library. Though that sounds enticing, remember Google is all about accessibility.

A price wall works against making games accessible to everyone. As a result, Google will be releasing a free tier of Stadia in 2020.

In addition, Google informed The Verge that games would be available for purchase like normal console games are. Stadia Base is Google’s “buy whatever you want, whenever you want” plan. The games that you buy will be yours to keep and to play forever.

As a quick side note. Earlier I mentioned that Stadia will be available on Pixel smartphones but Google is not exclusive. Or at least they’re trying not to be. They’ll be bringing the Stadia app to other smartphone models later down the road. Although, it’s unclear whether Huawei will be on the list even though Google has already warned the Trump administration that the ban is a mistake as well as a national security risk.

Which countries is Stadia available in?

Once officially launched, Stadia will be available in Belgium, Finland, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and USA. Sadly, Austria is not on the list. I’ll have to wait a little longer to try out this new gaming platform first hand. Or maybe I’ll drive to Germany or Italy to get a taste.

We'll be seeing more countries added to this list in 2020.

Alright, but what games can we play on Stadia?

Now that we’ve gone through all the details, you’re probably wondering, what games can you play on Stadia. Well Google has released the very first wave of Stadia games and there’s more than a few recognizable names on the list.

List of initial Stadia Games from The Verge:

• Bandai Namco - Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
• Bethesda - DOOM Eternal, DOOM 2016, Rage 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, Wolfenstein: Youngblood
• Bungie - Destiny 2
• Capcom - TBD
• Coatsink - Get Packed (Stadia exclusive)
• Codemasters - GRID
• Deep Silver - Metro Exodus
• Drool - Thumper
• Electronic Arts - TBD
• Giants Software - Farming Simulator 19
• Larian Studios - Baldur’s Gate 3
• nWay Games - Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• Rockstar Games - TBD
• Sega - Football Manager
• SNK - Samurai Shodown
• Square Enix - Final Fantasy XV, Tomb Raider Definitive Edition, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• 2K Games - NBA 2K, Borderlands 3
• Tequila Works - Gylt (Stadia exclusive)
• Warner Bros. - Mortal Kombat 11
• THQ - Darksiders Genesis
• Ubisoft - Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Trials Rising, The Crew 2

My thoughts on Stadia

There’s a lot of hype surrounding Stadia. But, there’s a lot of skepticism too. It certainly makes games easier to play for people around the world. That’s especially true for wanna-be gamers or ex-gamers who no longer own a console. Then Stadia is a good choice. You don’t need a controller, you can play using the hardware you already have.

Plus, everyone’s quite used to the subscription like model. Pay $10 a month for all you can watch movies rather than $10 per movie. The only thing you need is a screen to watch it out and good internet connection.

Now here comes the big issue. What if you don’t already have the hardware? What if you have crappy internet connection? Then Stadia is no longer that accessible to you. And that’s the end of this story.

However, considering Netflix has basically single-handedly put Blockbuster out of business and same with Amazon and physical bookstores, Stadia may be the disrupter the game industry was awaiting. Everywhere else we see a move towards cheaper, faster, more accessible. If and when Google succeeds, they’ll be the one's to beat.

Let me know your thoughts on Stadia pricing and whether or not you'll be signing up for Google's gaming platform.