Google Stadia Goes Live in November

[steven36]

Google Stadia, the company’s ambitious move into the $43 billion video game market, will launch this November, backed by some of the top publishers in the industry.

 

 

While Google has not announced an exact date for Stadia’s launch, it did answer many of the lingering questions from its unveiling in March, including pricing, how the subscription model would work, and which game makers are on board with it.

Ultimately, Stadia will launch with two tiers—a subscription model and a free model. Initially, though, the only option will be the Stadia Founders Edition, a $129.99 package that includes a controller, a Chromecast Ultra, a three-month subscription to the paid service, and a three-month pass for a friend.

That paid service, Stadia Pro, will normally cost $9.99 per month and gives players access to the highest quality streaming (4K images at 60 frames per second), a selection of free games (Bungie’s Destiny 2, including all expansions and a new add-on, will be the first), and discounts on select game purchases.

Presale for the Founders Edition is underway now.

A free model, called Stadia Base, will launch next year. Those users will only see resolutions of up to 1080p. They’ll also need to buy a Stadia controller, which will retail for $69.

While there was some speculation that Google would adopt a Netflix-like model for Stadia, letting people stream unlimited games for a fixed amount per month, the service will initially operate in a more traditional manner, letting people purchase titles individually, then stream them to whichever device they’d like. The company did not discuss game pricing, but digital downloads of video games have traditionally carried the same price as a physical copy at retail.

That puts the service in a different position than Sony’s PlayStation Now or Microsoft’s upcoming xCloud, which offer a broad catalog of titles for a monthly fee. Generally, though, most brand new releases, especially those from third-party publishers, are not included in the catalog.

Google’s not saying exactly how many games will be available at launch, but it did announce 30 titles from creators including Ubisoft, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive Software, and Warner Bros. More than 20 publishers are already on board with Stadia. And more game announcements will follow in the months leading up to launch, says John Justice, vice president and head of product at Google Stadia.

As for where you can play, the initial list is rather short. Chromecast will let people play on their televisions. PCs and Chromebooks are, of course, supported, with a minimum bandwidth requirement of 10 Mbps. (If you want 4K video, you’ll need about 35 Mbps.) However, while Google will have a storefront, allowing people to buy games, on iOS and Android devices, they’ll only be able to play those titles on two mobile devices initially: A Google Pixel 3 or Google Pixel 3A smartphone. Other devices, including additional smartphones and tablets, will be added next year.

Stadia will launch in 14 countries—the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. That number, too, will expand beginning next year.

Stadia’s advantage is it lowers the barrier of entry for people who want to play more recent video game releases. There’s no need to buy a console (which can cost $400 or more) or the latest and greatest processor or graphics card (both of which can run several hundred dollars). Instead, players can instantly load games onto most devices with a screen.

Google is just one of many non-traditional companies that are looking to become a player in the video game industry. Verizon, earlier this year, reportedly began testing a gaming service on select nVidia Shield set-top boxes. And Apple and Amazon are whispered to be looking at the space as well.

With those potential competitors in the distant future, Google is currently focused on securing big publishers and games, optimizing the play experience, and figuring out how to deal with one of the biggest issues the industry faces—game discoverability.

There are thousands of titles on the market, with more coming all the time, and promoting them via a traditional storefront is ineffective. Stadia, though, will let followers of You Tube Creators (another term for streamers or influencers) instantly buy a game the Creator is talking about. Players will also be able to recommend titles to friends.

Justice says this could be one of Stadia’s secret weapons as competition increases.

“One of the good parts about Stadia is you find out about games in a lot of different ways,” he says. “We’ll make it very easy, once you’ve learned about something, to purchase.”

 

Source

[Karlston]

Google Stadia requires $130 upfront, $10 per month at November launch

Free tier launches in 2020, but both require a la carte game purchases.

 

Players will have to pay $129.99 up front and $9.99 a month, on top of individual game purchase costs, when Google's previously announced Stadia game-streaming service launches in November. A free tier will be available some time in 2020, as will a paid subscription tier that doesn't require the upfront purchase.

 

The Stadia Founder's Edition and its contingent Stadia Pro subscription will be the only way to get access to the Stadia service when it launches, Google announced today. That $129.99 package, available for pre-order on the Google Store right now, will include:

• A Stadia controller in "limited-edition night blue"
• A Chromecast Ultra
• Three months of Stadia Pro service and a three-month "buddy pass" to give to a friend
• First dibs on claiming a "Stadia Name"

After the first three months, Stadia Pro users will have to pay $9.99 a month to maintain their membership. For that price, they will get access to Google's highest-quality streams, at up to 4K/60fps with high-dynamic range (HDR) and 5.1 surround sound. In 2019, users will not be able to sign up for Stadia Pro without investing in the Founder's Edition hardware package, and Founder's Edition packages will only be available "in limited quantities and for a limited time."

 

Stadia side-by-side
	Stadia Pro/Founder's Edition	Stadia Base
Available	November (only option at launch)	"2020"
Upfront cost	$129.99	None
Included up front	Chromecast Ultra, Stadia controller, three-month subscription + three-month "buddy pass," Destiny 2	Nothing
Monthly cost	$9.99	None
Maximum stream quality	4K resolution, 60 fps, 5.1 surround sound, HDR colour	1080p resolution, 60fps, stereo sound
Supported devices (at launch)	Chromecast Ultra; Computer w/ Chrome browser; Google Pixel 3/3a
Additional games	Purchase a la carte on either tier
Other Benefits	Discounts on game purchases; free games at "regular cadence"; early reservation of "Stadia name"	None

Countries

At launch, Stadia streaming will be available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Additional regions will be added in 2020.

 

Pro subscribers will also receive PlayStation Plus/Xbox Live Gold-style benefits, including discounts on game purchases and free games released at a "regular cadence." The first of these freebies, Destiny 2, will be available to Pro subscribers at launch in a package including all current and future expansions plus the ability to transfer an existing Guardian from the PC or Xbox edition (PS4 transfers are currently "pending approval by Sony"). These free titles will remain accessible as long as users maintain their monthly subscription.

 

Sometime next year, Google says it plans to roll out a free tier of Stadia service, called Stadia Base. Users on this tier will be limited to 1080p, 60fps streams with stereo sound.

Games and hardware support

 

Alongside its pricing announcement, Google announced a lineup of 21 publishers and 31 games that will be available on Stadia in the "launch window" (see sidebar). It's a list that includes yet-to-release titles like Borderlands 3 and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint as well as the newly announced Darksiders: Genesis and Baldur's Gate III. That list will grow as new announcements are made leading up to the November rollout, the company said.

Stadia launch window games/publishers

Announced as of June 6, here are the titles early Stadia users can expect:

 

• Bandai Namco: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
• Bethesda: Doom Eternal+, Doom (2016), Rage 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, Wolfenstein: Youngblood+
• Bungie: Destiny 2
• Capcom*
• Coatsink: Get Packed+
• Codemasters: GRID
• Deep Silver: Metro Exodus
• Drool: Thumper
• Electronic Arts*
• Giants Software: Farming Simulator 19
• Larian Studios: Baldur’s Gate III+
• nWay Games: Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• Rockstar*
• 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: NBA 2K, Borderlands 3+
• Tequila Works: Gylt+
• 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

* - No specific games announced yet
+ - Games not yet launched on any platform.

 

Aside from free titles on the Pro tier, all Stadia games will be purchased on an a la carte basis. Google was not ready to discuss individual game pricing, but Stadia VP of Product John Justice told Ars those prices will be set by the publishers themselves. "We're working with them to make sure it's competitive pricing to what you would see on other platforms," Justice said.

 

While there are no free-to-play titles amid the first round of announced Stadia titles, "you will see us start to include some on the platform" as time goes on, Justice said. Google also didn't show off the Stadia system or store interface, but Justice said the latter would be "as frictionless as possible, [needing] as few seconds as possible from finding out about a game to be[ing] able to jump in." Justice would not discuss revenue sharing arrangements between Google and its publishing partners.

 

Google is now recommending users have at least a 10mbps Internet connection to use Stadia. With that connection, users can expect to run games "at least" at 720p and 60 frames per second. Pro users who want the highest-end streaming experience should have a connection of at least 35mbps, Justice said, though streaming quality will scale seamlessly below that level.

 

While any any desktop, laptop, or tablet running a desktop version of Chrome will be able to use Stadia (with a required Pro subscription, at launch), mobile support will be limited to the Pixel 3 and 3a line at launch. Google says service will be "expanding to other phones over time."

 

Stadia users will also be able to stream games through a Chromecast Ultra connected to a TV if they use Google's proprietary Stadia controller. Extra Stadia controllers, beyond the one included in the Founder's Edition, will cost $69 in the US and be available in three colours: Just Black, Clearly White, and Wasabi.

 

As previously announced, Stadia games run on custom Linux-based server hardware maintained by Google, promising "10.7 teraflops of power in each instance." Game audio and video is streamed from those servers to a user's device, and inputs are streamed from the user to the server over a network of what Google says are "7,500 edge nodes" around the world. Users will be able to immediately jump into supported games without having to wait for downloads or installs, and they will be able to carry gameplay from device to device seamlessly, Google says.

 

Today's announcement does not mention any possible "first party" games produced by Google's internal gaming studios. Google's Phil Harrison has previously hinted to future Stadia games leveraging platform-specific perks like "distributed physics" processing in the cloud or the official Stadia controller's built-in microphone.

 

Source: Google Stadia requires $130 upfront, $10 per month at November launch (Ars Technica)

 

(To view the article's image galleries, please visit the link above)