Reuters
Google VP and general manager Phil Harrison speaks at Google's keynote at GDC 2019 in San Francisco.
- Stadia, Google's new streaming service for video games, is launching in November.
- While Google Stadia has a lot of attractive features, the overall package doesn't feel compelling because of how pricing works.
- Customers have to purchase (or re-purchase) games to play them on Stadia - so if you already bought a game on PC, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One, you'd have to buy it again for Stadia.
- Netflix has a better pricing structure: One flat monthly fee gives you unlimited access to anything in the library, instantly.
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Google is entering the video-game business later this year. But Stadia, the name for Google's new game-streaming service coming in November, isn't as irresistible as it could have been.
To be clear, Google Stadia has a lot going for it:
- You don't need to buy any additional hardware
- Stadia runs on desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, and TV
- Stadia games, and progress in those games, are saved in the cloud and accessible from any device
- Games apply updates automatically so you don't need to wait
- Google promises "no cheating" and "no hacking" since the games run on servers, not on local consoles
- Stadia supports cross-play, including cross-platform multiplayer
- There's a free tier coming in 2020, and a $10 per month "Pro" tier launching in November
- Stadia Pro offers free monthly games, which you keep as long as you're subscribed
- Google made a Stadia gamepad that works over WiFi and with any device.
There's just one issue, but it's a big one: You have to purchase any games you want to play on Stadia (unless it's free, of course), even if you've already purchased them on other consoles like PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.
Here's why that's a deal-breaker, in my opinion.
