I've been lucky enough to get a Stadia Buddy pass today and found out that claiming 'free' games is a requirement.
This means you don't get access to games for free on Stadia Pro, that were released in previous months if you've just signed up.
This is a huge negative for Stadia Pro, considering it will cost more than a basic Netflix sub (~£6).
Is this culture of greed within Google a recent development?
Why not let Stadia Pro members access all previously released games? How else will Stadia possibly compete with Microsoft's xCloud?
Hey @cbdeakin,
I can understand what you mean, but Stadia isn't quite the "netflix of games". I mean you have some free games that you can claim as long as you still have a Stadia Pro subscription and each month new ones will be added to it, but yeah all other games have to be bought to be able to play them.
What exactly is the Microsoft x cloud you mentioned? Does that give you access to a bunch of games? Guess though only Microsoft games?
I even guess if Stadia would make all games available for example in a Stadia "Platinum" subscription, this would be way more expensive, because you would get access to all games, but mhhh, I can't see that coming.
What game(s) did it not let you access?
None. The point is that if someone signs up in January or February next year, they will presumably not get access to the free games that have been released in November and December 2019.
This will obviously put a significant limit on the number of free games to new Stadia Pro subscribers who sign up later on. But they pay the same amount as those who subscribed from the beginning.
Wouldn't it be far simpler (and better value) just to grant all Pro subscribers access to all games previously included free with Stadia Pro?
How is xCloud a factor in this? Microsofts Games with Gold free games program functions exactly the same as Stadia Pro/PS+. You sub today, you missed out on years of Xbox games. Get an Xbox Live sub today and you don't get Celeste, Assassins Creed 4, The Crew, Goat Sim, etc.
xCloud =/= just Game Pass
Sure Game Pass gets you over 200 games and is at a good value but over 2,000 games exist on the Xbox One. Stadia could eventually get something similar to GP but the current free Pro game benefit isn't meant to be that and they don't have enough games to support an all access model.
Okay, well you guys sound like you've made your minds up and like Stadia. Fair enough - But ask yourself, what do I have to lose by thinking deeply about the strengths and weaknesses of Stadia in it's current state? Is it likely to improve or change much for the better in future?
For several years better streaming services on PC have been available, like Playstation Now, which has better performance and hundreds of games. And a 7 day trial too so you can test it out easily. All you need is a half decent Internet connection and an OK laptop / PC, or a PS4. 1 disappointing thing though is no support for tablets / mobile devices yet. Also, many games are a bit sluggish (30 fps or lower) because they are streamed from old console hardware.
Xbox Live is OK, not great in my opinion. You get some free games each month, but only if you claim them during that month. This is merely a bonus to attract new customers, the main reason to buy XB Live is to play games online.
Xbox Game Pass is a much better deal at the moment, just £1 for 3 months on PC and Xbox One. But it gets expensive after that. You can just keep using the this offer on different accounts though as far as I know. I mentioned xCloud because, as you probably know, it will soon be included as part of a Game Pass subscription, with apparently 50+ games at launch.
Stadia has it's advantages too, like the fact you can play it on multiple platforms and in 4K. Both these features are still in development though, there's no 4K on PC (via chrome browser) and 4K only works on a couple of expensive Google mobile phones and Chromecast Ultra officially and no tablets yet. The ability to start games almost immediately is a nice timesaving feature.
Stadia is so far from ready at the moment, that they obviously don't want to offer a trial service to all users. I think the most disappointing thing is that some games still have problems on 1080p resolution (my connection is 40mbps+ with good latency), this makes me wonder how well 4K will work on Chrome browsers when released in 2020.
You must not be well versed in the history of PSNow as it launched as a trainwreck. Games were up for individual rental, pricing was all over the place (just in 2016 the sub was 20.00 per a month), the library was all old games initially, they didn't support DLC for some games with the ones that did you had to pay more and plenty of features they promised never happened (what a shocker with Sony /sarcam).
The irony of Stadia is that it got more people to mention PSNow than I ever saw it mentioned in all the years it was out. This is bad because I see xCloud mentioned way more than Now and it's not even out yet.
I find the whole Xcloud argument to be incredibly funny. There's no official wording on the price at all. Sure, you have GP for a pretty nice price. But Microsoft never said that Xcloud in itself won't have a monthly fee.
Playstation Plus gets almost no PR that's actually good, except for hte price-cut. Conisdering what games cost today I can't imagine expecting to get a full library for 9.99/month. The whole "Google has a lot of money"-argument doesn't cut it in the real world.
Honestly the connection between Netflix and Stadia is only in your mind ![]()
This is how you thought about Stadia but it's not like that at all. Stadia is FREE and you have to buy the games, with PRO you get access to some games and features moth by month. This is a different business case in respect to Netflix.
I understand that you would prefer to have access to better features or better conditions, I'd pref to play all for free :P, but this is not how it works, and no one ever said that this would work like that ![]()
@cbdeakin I think you have a lot to lose by thinking about perceived faults with Stadia's current state. Admittedly, the launch was handled poorly. But it's also clear that this is a limited launch. Lots of expected features and games and services are still unavailable. In order to evaluate it against other things in the market you have to at least let it get to where the launch is complete. Even then, I have a feeling there will be changes along the way. But they can't start making changes before they even get it fully active.
As far as the "free" offerings, I have 2 thoughts.
1. That's the way it works with every other platform that offers free games. Some offer it for a month, some longer, some shorter. But no platform says hey, we're offering this game free to all our customers forever.
2. This is one of the BENEFITS of being a founder or premier edition owner. Early adopters are getting sort of "free" access to games that other folks who jump on the platform later when all the features are available and a lot of the issues are fixed won't be able to get. It's a benefit to those of us who were willing to take a chance early. And also, it just makes sense that the longer you've been a subscribing member, the more "free" access you should have. It's only fair.
This is setup ideally like xbox live gold or PS + you must own pro to get the free game license not the game itself. You arn't claming a free game technically only a license however that license is only valid while you have pro, + or gold on any platform.
You cannot go previous months in the past only what is free, presently speaking. If you cancel any subscriptions then the game license is revoked. Now doesn't mean you will forever lose access, once you get the subscription back then so will the license for the games.