Early Thursday afternoon, Google came out to finally answer some more questions about their big foray into the video game industry: Stadia. When it was first announced, I know I had several details I wanted to have explained, mainly internet speed and pricing. Luckily, this first edition of Stadia Connect answered those questions, while also leaving me with more questions and points I wish were better clarified. Either way, let’s dive in with some quick takeaways.

• MANY developers are on board with Stadia

It’s one thing to say you are working with “several” developers, it’s another to actually show them by name and, judging by the list of names that went flying by during the presentation, Stadia has a ton of support. We already knew companies like Bandai Namco and Ubisoft were heavily involved, but now we know companies like EA, Capcom, THQ Nordic, 2K, Bethesda and MANY more are getting behind this. So the software lineup should be pretty stacked with 3rd party support, which gives it an advantage over a company like Nintendo.

 

 

• The internet speed requirement is actually MUCH lower than I anticipated

One of my biggest questions coming out of the initial announcement was what kind of internet connection speed I would need. This is the ENTIRE basis of this project as even the smallest lag issue could make a game unplayable depending on the genre, which was my experience with Sony’s comparable service, PS Now. Luckily enough, in order to get the full 4K, 60 frames per second, 5.1 surround sound experience, you only need a connection speed of 35Mbps. Also, according to the presentation, you can have a speed as low as 5 – 10Mbps and be able to get 720p at 60 frames per second. On paper, this seems incredibly user friendly as you may not need to break the bank with your ISP to enjoy the best of Stadia, we shall see how this plays out in practice, however.

• The pricing structure gives users PLENTY of options

Hearing all this talk about WHAT the service can do and how it does it is all well and good, but consumers’ primary concern is “What is this going to cost me?”. It seems like Google is modeling Stadia after Xbox Game Pass, which makes sense given that Game Pass is the best gaming subscription in the business outside of something like Humble Bundle. Stadia’s subscription service, dubbed “Stadia Pro”, will be $9.99 per month, which seems to be the going rate for subscription services. Alternatively, if you don’t want to sign up for Stadia Pro, you can still access the Stadia library a la carte with Stadia Basic, meaning you pay for the game and keep it.

There is also a “Stadia Founder’s Edition” which will include 3 months of Pro, 3 months of Pro for a friend, an exclusive Stadia controller, a Chromecast Ultra and the entire Destiny 2 experience (though that was said to be a part of the Pro subscription so I am not sure if that’s exclusive to Founders or not) for $129 with pre-orders for that starting today. Stadia controllers are going for $69.99 a piece, with Chromecast Ultras also going for that price, so you are getting a lot for the price. I will also say, those controllers look super clean.

 

 

• We can now talk about actual games

Not only can we discuss cross-platform games that are coming to Stadia, such as Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Mortal Kombat 11, The Division 2 and so forth, we also have our first look at EXCLUSIVE games for Stadia, as we got looks at Gylt and Get Packed (which seems like a lot of multiplayer mayhem fun). We also got a great CGI trailer for Balder’s Gate 3 which is coming to Stadia and PC. Already having a ton of 3rd party support as well as exclusive titles out of the gate is a great way to debut this service.

• I still have one big question

While the presentation overall did a good job of answering some burning questions, one still remains in my mind: Why?

I now understand how the service works and some of the specs under the hood, but why SHOULD I play these games on Stadia? What does Stadia do that other services don’t? I want to see this service in action, I want to see the features that are exclusive to Stadia. I don’t own a Chromecast Ultra, I don’t own a Pixel phone, I’m only going to experience Stadia on my PC using a controller I already own. Xbox Game Pass is coming to PC and, yes, requires me to download games before I can play them. I want Google to SHOW me WHY I should consider Stadia and this presentation didn’t do that. The technology is impressive and I am definitely interested in seeing how this goes, but I will be more interested if I see actual footage of this service as less of a concept and more of a concrete alternative.

 

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Stadia is going to set the bar when it comes to the inevitable streaming future, mainly because they are the first and have the most resources to support this technology until one of the “major players” get involved (*cough* Microsoft *cough*). This presentation did a better job of showcasing Stadia’s infrastructure and laying out some actual hard facts as far as price is concerned, but I was left a little disappointed by the fact that right now, Stadia is all talk and no show. That being said, the major players need to take notice and we will see if there is any response at E3 2019.

What did you think? Does Stadia interest you more now or do you need more convincing?

Don’t forget to keep it locked here at NerdBacon for our E3 2019 coverage as well to see if Stadia makes ripples at the biggest gaming convention of the year.