Totally understand that @BJWN.
Unfortunately I could imagine that Stadia would not release much earlier, which game would be free next month, because maybe they decide that on short-notice. Would be great to know though, I agree!
Personally I always wait now for the beginning of the next month (when the new free game is released), before purchasing anything else. As far as I could imagine, it can just be one of the already existing games and I would think it's not one that was just released, but let's see which one is next!
@BJWN : I'd be surprised if it was published that far ahead. Also, I don't recall that it was stated that games would be added to the Pro list every month either. Unless I've missed something there are no guarantees that games would be added in January (although obviously I would like that to be the case very much).
I think you'll just have to take it on the chin and accept that sometimes there will be winners and sometimes losers when it comes to both discounted games and games added to the Pro list.
Of course, if you are fortunate enough to have bought a game very close to the time that it gets added to the free Pro list, and you've not played the game more than a couple of hours then a refund might still be available. I encountered this with Tomb Raider where I had bought the game at a heavy discount only for it to be added to the Pro games the following day. Fortunately for me at least I hadn't had the chance to play it, and saved myself a few £'s by clicking the refund button and then claiming the game via the Pro subscription.
@BJWN : Valid points, but until such time that there are more games available on Stadia then I don't see an easy option that Google can introduce here.
Certainly the moment that a game gets announced as being available for free via the Pro subscription you can guarantee that sales for that game will drop off significantly until such time that the game is no longer available via the Pro freebies.
That is why I think that it will be unusual for announcements to be made that far ahead on which games will or won't be on the Pro free list. Similar scenario for the Pro deals, I would expect that these will be limited time offers only, and as Stadia introduces newer functionality we might start to see free weekends and similar style offerings that we already see on the likes of the consoles and other gaming services.
Ultimately, I think that this will be the case until such time as the library is more extensive, but even then it can't please everyone that has purchased a game only to find that it is discounted or made available for free at some point afterwards.
I don't see a win-win situation here, it will be luck of the draw.
This argument is so bogus: You payed for a game and 3 weeks later it's free.. and so what you didn't lose anything did you? There is no gain or lost of confidence you wanted it now and so you bought it.
Half the post here are on this subject. The stadia team already gave refund to purshase made close to a pro giveaway but now you would like a roadmap of future free games.
I am sure they will change the sub perks and prices at one point. Until then I can agree to one thing with you your use of the word stupid.
No need to get mad bro
I asked a question, simply and politely, and you don't seem to know the answer to the question I asked. There's nothing wrong with that but I don't know why you replied in the first place? When you don't know the answer to something posted on a forum you can simply scroll on by. You don't have to guess at an answer or be mad at the question because you can't answer it you know? There's lots of questions that you do have the answer to, good, helpful answers. Do yourself a favour and answer those questions. Help those people. That's how you improve your community. Peace and love brother.
i was in the assumption that the monthly "free pro game" falls away after the month is over, that is the reason for us too have to claim it too be able to use it ( the longer you subscribe the better game library you will get).
Games that are bought for is also available without the pro subscription.
Not exactly, in fact it could be worse. If it gets to January and they announce "Metro Exodus" as the free title for example, then with the now confirmed knowledge that I could've lost €30 had I bought it the previous week, I would be even more concerned about purchasing when there is such a small catalogue to choose from. One of the key rules in business is "If you want to make money from an idiot, don't make him feel stupid about it". And this idiot would feel very stupid!
@BJWN : Whatever happens, there will be some winners and some losers. There is nothing confirmed that the dates that games will be made available for free for Pro subscribers will be at the start of the month, middle or end of the month, of if in fact there will be some made free at all during a particular month. So, on that basis, it doesn't matter when you actually purchase a game because you might be lucky or you may not. It just so happened that the last round of free games was released on December 1st, and an announcement was made about those titles on the 26th November IIRC.
So, I guess the best way to approach it would be to wait to purchase games until after any announcement is made on whichever date that might happen to be and then if the game you intend to buy isn't in that specific list then you can make your purchase. Of course, nothing to say that the title you purchase won't be available in the following giveaway or another one thereafter.... there will be winners and losers.
I don't think that it makes anyone feel stupid or poorly looked after, that's just the way the cycle will go. Some folks will be happy, some won't. I don't feel hard done by when I purchase something from Steam, or any other retailer. You make your financial decision as to whether or not to purchase a game and then your decision is made. I held off on buying Farming Simulator 19 for my kids, and had some luck in that it was made available in the December giveaway. I'm not going to feel hard done by that I bought Kine, FF XV and Trials Rising even if any of those titles appear in a future giveaway.
I'll buy GYLT and maybe Thumper for the kids in the New Year and I'll probably hold back until I see what new titles are free next before buying them (perhaps), depends on what the kids think of Stadia on Christmas day I guess.
But it is what it is, fortunately or unfortunately, I just don't see a sensible way forward beyond this approach to be honest.
@Mad_Dog_Bravo A sensible approach in my opinion would be to only add "free" titles that people haven't had the chance to purchase yet. Until such a time as the library is big enough that the buyers regret would impact only a small number of customers. I appreciate not everyone is bothered about spending €20-30 on something that is then free a couple of weeks later but I would be, which is why I asked a question! Assuming each customer bought only one game then at the moment they risk mildly irritating as much as 5% of their customer base. Something best avoided after a bungled launch. At least this would give customers like me full confidence when buying games at least until the Base option comes out.
Well the good thing is: Nobody HAS to buy any games on Stadia. You can also just play the free games with Stadia Pro and enjoy. So if you don't want to be disappointed, just buy nothing or wait until your wish-game is reduced or available for free then the regret wouldn't be that big.
I just had a similar situation with my new toaster. I bought one the other day, because I really wanted it and a few days later they had it on sale. Of course I was a bit "meh" at the time when I found that out, but I just kept the toaster (which is doing his work quite well!) and don't think about it anymore. The conclusion is: If I would have waited longer, I could have got a better offer, but I wanted it THEN and not days/weeks later. So the difference I paid was basically the amount that I wasn't ready to just wait for another offer.
Therefore: If you can wait: Just wait until the games are on sale or for free instead of purchasing anything. But if you really want to play something: Why not buying it now and enjoy instead of a "possible" regret when it really comes to a sale?
@Chufu Thanks for the reply, I'm more than capable of making my own decisions about whether or not I purchase a video game, in fact it's a decision I have made hundreds of times in my life without any help at all. What I was, and still am, looking for (as a new owner and community member) was more information on which to base that very trivial decision. Good luck with your toaster though brother.
@Chufu @Mad_Dog_Bravo Everyday I love you guys more.
@BJWN : If I understand you correct, games that no-one has purchased yet are the only titles that should be in the Free listing? Does that mean a different list for everyone? Until such time as the library is extensive enough...
@Mad_Dog_Bravo That would be great too but I was thinking more along the lines of a game that had just been added to the library, for example, announce Hotline Miami as Januarys addition.
@BJWN : OK, I follow you now. Perhaps that would work, but I guess at the end of the day it is up to the financial arrangement between Google and the game publisher(s) as to which games are going to be made available for free to the Pro subscribers. I guess that somewhere along the lines Google is having to pay the publisher some amount of revenue for those games. I'd be surprised if it was for newly released or newly added titles. For example FS 19 is already out of date with the FS 20 release (not sure if it has released yet or soon to, but basically FS 19 is old news), so maybe you could see that happen with a title say like Doom which has been around for decades in one guise or another.
But equally, you could say that the age rating of the games has something to play into it too, my kids are not gonna be happy if all the free titles are rated 18 and they are on the lookout for a game rated 12.
I think whatever the approach is that Google use for the Stadia releases, some folks will be happy and others won't be.
So, from my own opinion, I'm OK with the way it is currently setup. I don't feel that I'm being taken advantage of, more titles will be added over time and new features will be added, and all in all I think that the balance is reasonable for a newly released platform.
It's when a man loves a woman very much...
@BJWN surely if it's an ex bone it's the ghost of a bone from two lovers or the bone you get from missing your ex too much ![]()
@BJWN This is one of my main concern about the lack of games for now.
I bought TR1 and it got free one week later. I asked a refund and it was granted /(be praised Google support team).
Then I bought RDR2 because there is few chances to see it offered on the pro games next month.
But for now I am waiting and I does not see me buying any more games. This is quite odd.