I wanted to express a frustration regarding Stadia that I feel isn’t getting much publicity (maybe because my situation is pretty niche, but still). The fact that I can’t use my G Suite account with Stadia is insane. Yes, I know they mentioned this before, but I still can’t believe that it’s not supported, and it may be a dealbreaker for me.
I’ve actually been really excited for Stadia, and even though I got my code late, I didn’t mind waiting a bit longer. Despite negative press, I really wanted to believe in a streaming future and I’m fully bought-in to Google’s ecosystem. I figured if anyone could pull this off, it’s Google.
In fact, I’m so bought into the ecosystem that I use a G Suite account as my personal gmail account. I mainly do this for a custom domain as part of my Google account, but I also enjoy the admin tools for managing my household (family), custom and unlimited google groups, lots of storage, the list goes on. It’s been great, I love G Suite, it’s made using other Google apps a breeze and I get everything I could possibly want out of having a custom domain with my Google account.
Until Stadia.
Yesterday, I got my code and excitedly downloaded the app. Like many of you, I was just extremely ready to jump in and give Stadia a shot after waiting for my code. Immediately, I was met with a message that made my heart drop (image above): "Choose a different Google account".
I haven’t used a personal gmail account in several years, and the one I did have was cringe and I wanted to avoid that username as much as possible. Unsure what to do, I created a new quick Google account using my common in-game username as the address (@gmail.com). As I went to do Stadia set up again, I got kindly reminded by the app that I would never be able to change my linked Google account once I set up Stadia. Great, so I was committing to this bogus Google account I created in seconds just because I wanted to use Stadia so bad, instead of the account I use for every other Google app (and many aspects of my life) and have used for years (Complete with a nice [gaming@mydomain.com](mailto:gaming@mydomain.com) alias that I thought would be perfect for this moment).
After committing, so much of the excitement about Stadia, and the fact that Stadia is another Google product, was gone. It didn’t even work with the account that I use for the rest of Google. I realized that now, every time I wanted to use Stadia, I would have to switch accounts away from my main Google account, use my new bogus one, then switch back when I was done.
I completely fail to understand why Stadia wouldn’t work with another Google service, especially one that people pay for. Again, I know they were transparent about this so I shouldn’t be surprised, but even though they announced this in advance, I still feel a bit betrayed and deflated. I was willing to overlook every other Stadia complaint just because I trusted Google and was a bit of a fanboy, but I now I feel like this product isn’t even made for users like me.
Adding the extra step, as well as the detachment from the account I use for the rest of Google services, may be what stops me from using Stadia, especially in light of an already rocky launch. Especially since my desired username that I got the founders pack for is now linked to a random account I created in a moment just so I could jump in as fast as possible.
Be warned other G Suite users! Despite this issue, I still will be trying it more over the next few days (and my initial impressions were good, this problem aside), and I hope many of you are able to enjoy.
I can understand that you would love to play Stadia with a G Suite account. Guess though that Google didn't made it available at launch, because G Suite accounts are normally for businesses and therefore it could be more important for Google to bring Stadia for the private Google accounts.
If you're lucky, it will be available for G Suite soon, but in the helpcenter Google mentioned from the very beginning that Stadia is not for G Suite. Wish you the best though.
The G Suite account and compatibility with various services is not an uncommon issue and one I don't expect to be changed for Stadia any time in the near future. The people at Google are aware that G Suite users do want more universal parity in service access with personal accounts, though, so it may happen one day.
I got really excited about Stadia and the ability to play Elder Scrolls Online from anywhere - with cross-play for my PC ESO so I didn't lose any progress - but no GSuite is a dealbreaker for me. Like many others, I have a personal domain connected to the (now legacy) free GSuite and I don't want to resurrect my old gmail.com account or purchase anything else using the old account.
Of course if Google were still a "not evil" company, they could just fix the primary problem caused by the disparity between GSuite and Personal accounts by putting in place a method to transfer purchases between accounts. With one minor policy change they make it easier for people to migrate between GSuite and personal accounts.
Hi @jackcorbae,
Yeah it really was a annoyance at first me. But right now I only use a Gmail account for Stadia.
I think not able to use Gsuite has to do with contractual agreements. Which is fine with Gsuite is normally for businesses.
But I must admit a transfer option from gsuite to Gmail would be very nice. Hope you get things fixed or want to try the extra workaround as Stadia is a very sweet cloud gaming platform.
Alas, not available in Australia anyway. It's only been nearly 2 years since it was launched.
Alternatives:
Microsoft XCloud is currently in beta for Australians: https://www.xbox.com/en-AU/xbox-game-streaming/project-xcloud/register
NVidia's GEForce Now is about to launch in Australia: https://gfn.pentanet.gg/beta-access/
Amazon Luna is playing the same game as Google with no announcement for plans in Australia.
But maybe a couple of competitors will help Google moving?
So I guess the argument of G Suite / Workspace accounts are only for businesses / enterprises / education and you should only be able to access Stadia and other "consumer" level features from gmail.com accounts now goes right out the window. Google Workspace is now for everyone - https://blog.google/products/workspace/google-workspace-everyone.
I always thought it was because G-suite accounts can be deactivated.
I've been a G Suite member since it started. I manage a G Suite account for my extended family so that we can use a custom domain with our family surname and to provide many of the end-point protections, extra storage, e-mail alias management, Google Meet, and other features. There is still much I like about the Google ecosystem, but they have made their business/family account division complicated. I can't go with a family account and use a vanity domain. A family account doesn't seem to provide many of the endpoint management and other security features of G Suite/Google Workspace. I've go so much invested in to Google Products (including using Google Fi for my families cell phones) that it would be difficult to change. But I am seriously considering moving everything to Office 365. Both my Microsoft Account and, hell, even my Apple ID account let me use any e-mail address I want to and to change my e-mail address. The simple answer to this is for Google to not have your account ID be your e-mail address.
November 2021 and still same issue.
Good bye Stadia, I will never play with you.
Hi everyone,
Thanks for compiling this feedback for us. The best way to get your ideas in front of the Stadia team is to submit this as feedback within the Stadia app. To find this, open the Stadia app on your mobile device, then tap your profile icon in the top-right corner of the screen. From there, navigate to the "Feedback" button below.
I did also want to point out that this is an old topic so we will be closing it. If you have any follow up questions or concerns, please feel free to create a new post for better visibility in the community.
Thank you,
James