For those interested in trying out Google Stadia, the new streaming service, today Google held their first Stadia Connect to give out some details. Quick reminder: Stadia is the game streaming service powered by Debian Linux and Vulkan. It’s supposed to offer a “single click” experience with “no downloading required”.
On the subject of pricing: They will have a Stadia Pro subscription at $9.99/£8.99 a month which gives you up to 4K resolution with regular free games and discounts. They will also do Stadia Base with no monthly sub that will come "next year" limiting you to 1080p, both allowing you to buy games whenever you want.
However, it seems only those who purchase the special Founders Edition will get access sometime in November. This includes first access to Stadia, a Chromecast Ultra, limited edition Stadia Controller, 3 months of Stadia Pro, a guest pass to give access to a friend and the Complete Edition of Destiny 2.
First set of games includes: Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios) was newly announced - Trailer, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Gylt, Get Packed, The Division 2, Destiny 2, DOOM Eternal, Football Manager 2020, GRID, Metro Exodus, The Elder Scrolls Online, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Tomb Raider Trilogy, Borderlands 3 and more.
A pretty interesting line-up and there’s more they’re going to announce later, that’s just all they’re teasing for now. They also reiterated wide support for different game pads, not just their own.
You can see the video here:
Direct Link
If you want to play at 1080p, Google are saying you will need a 20Mbps connection. That actually seems quite low, but even so the bandwidth use that will come along with it will likely be massive. If your connection is a bit wobbly, Stadia will keep your progress for "several minutes".
As for availability, they're launching in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, USA and the United Kingdom. They say more countries will come in 2020 too.
See more at the official Stadia website and their FAQ here.
I found it quite amusing that the video kept dying on me (seems for others too), after Google's recent outage it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence about buying AAA titles to stream them through Google's network.
I remain unconvinced by it, especially now we know we will be buying games as well and you're locked to 1080p unless you also pay a monthly subscription. Buying a game, to have no real access to it with Google controlling every part of it? I mentioned before I didn't particularly like the idea of even less ownership but with a Netflix-like subscription model it might have made more sense but not if you're still paying full price.
I will add more details as I look over it all.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Wasn't one of the big selling points supposed to be a low barrier to entry? This looks like a pretty big barrier to me.
It's just a shame that we will probably never see proper Linux releases on Steam, GOG etc. for some, or even most of those games that run on Stadia, even though they clearly run well on Linux.
First set of games includes...
buying AAA titles to stream them through Google's network
I'm confused, you still have to buy the games, right ?
Then why is it restricted to a set of games ? All the other video game streaming solution let you run any game.
Sure, for music, I do now mostly use Spotify. But that hasn't happened with Netflix, where I still buy movies to own. And it sure won't happen for games unless we all suddenly get fibre in all our households. Cheaply. Immediately. And even then, the centralised model with millions of fibre-based customers would cripple even Google's datacentres.
Just not interested. At all. Other than, you know, to moan about it on this thread.
About it being a set of games...First set of games includes...buying AAA titles to stream them through Google's network
I'm confused, you still have to buy the games, right ?
Then why is it restricted to a set of games ? All the other video game streaming solution let you run any game.
Isn't it obvious? They still need to work with the developer, to get the games working on Linux + Vulkan and supporting Stadia APIs and getting it all setup on their servers. It's not like Google can just come along, take any single game and let you stream it.
That's weird, almost no Linux natives. Are all these games streaming from and running on Linux?Stadia is Debian + Vulkan, so yes.
About it being a set of games...First set of games includes...buying AAA titles to stream them through Google's network
I'm confused, you still have to buy the games, right ?
Then why is it restricted to a set of games ? All the other video game streaming solution let you run any game.
Isn't it obvious? They still need to work with the developer, to get the games working on Linux + Vulkan and supporting Stadia APIs and getting it all setup on their servers. It's not like Google can just come along, take any single game and let you stream it.
Valve did it. (including a bunch of optimization to start encoding a direct3D stream to reduce input delay)
They could have used a similar technology as a failover for non Stadia ready games.
Limiting the number of games is a huge deal.
That's weird, almost no Linux natives. Are all these games streaming from and running on Linux?
I suppose the correct answer would be that they're running on the "Stadia platform". Which may be Linux/Vulkan based. But it is not your desktop.
I'm not sure how well this new service will handle with single pĺayer games, but I'm sure that it will be the future for many franchises that will work far better better with a monthly subscription (e.g. FIFA, PES, NBA Live, Madden, etc.).
Hmmm... why couldn't Valve provide a similar line up of AAA titles at the launch of Steam Machines? They could've been successful if they provided such a line up.
Different markets, not to mention the time period. SteamOS tried to be a "customizable" competition for PS4 and XBOX.
Valve already have those games on their store, there's a huge difference. I'm really not sure where the confusion is, Stadia is a brand new store and service. Every store has to have a contract with a developer, Stadia is no different. Again, they cannot just take any game and put it on Stadia.About it being a set of games...First set of games includes...buying AAA titles to stream them through Google's network
I'm confused, you still have to buy the games, right ?
Then why is it restricted to a set of games ? All the other video game streaming solution let you run any game.
Isn't it obvious? They still need to work with the developer, to get the games working on Linux + Vulkan and supporting Stadia APIs and getting it all setup on their servers. It's not like Google can just come along, take any single game and let you stream it.
Valve did it. (including a bunch of optimization to start encoding a direct3D stream to reduce input delay)
They could have used a similar technology as a failover for non Stadia ready games.
Limiting the number of games is a huge deal.
I'm not sure how well this new service will handle with single pĺayer games
Off topic, but how the hell did you manage to get a accent on your lower-case L character in "player"?? I thought it was a dead pixel on my monitor and only realised it was a unicode character when I scrolled up and noticed it was moving! :D
Mohandevir Jun 6, 2019
Personnally the free access is enough to my requirements. I compare the Stadia Pro to the Playstation plus subscription plan. It's quite similar in all aspects. It's just that the hardware is dematerialized.
The founders edition is totally optionnal.
I think it will succeed even if we don't like the business model/Google. Who didn't created a Google store account and used GooglePlay? I guess it will be quite similar to that if not integrated into the Google Store.
It all depends on the price of each games. We still have no clues.
I'm not sure how well this new service will handle with single pĺayer games
Off topic, but how the hell did you manage to get a accent on your lower-case L character in "player"?? I thought it was a dead pixel on my monitor and only realised it was a unicode character when I scrolled up and noticed it was moving! :D
Thé ḿáǵíç óf ĺíńúx XD
walther von stolzing Jun 6, 2019
That's weird, almost no Linux natives. Are all these games streaming from and running on Linux?
I suppose the correct answer would be that they're running on the "Stadia platform". Which may be Linux/Vulkan based. But it is not your desktop.
This raises a question in my mind. Compare the relationship between Stadia and desktop Linux, with the relationship between PS4 & Nintendo Switch to FreeBSD. The latter, of course, hold absolutely no promise for gaming on FreeBSD, not simply because FreeBSD isn't a popular desktop OS, but because the gamey-tech that runs on top of FreeBSD is a completely proprietary, totally locked-down affair. Stadia, by contrast, uses Vulkan -- and it SEEMS like there's no one like Sony or Nintendo locking down the 'gamey-tech' so the publishers can't publish their Debian/Vulkan ports elsewhere. Or is there? Like -- is it entirely up to Ubisoft et al. whether to release their Debian/Vulkan ports elsewhere? Is Google imposing any constraints in that regard?
Hmmm... why couldn't Valve provide a similar line up of AAA titles at the launch of Steam Machines? They could've been successful if they provided such a line up.
because stadia is 1 OS and 1 set of HARDWARE..... mostly AMD
steamOS runs on every hardware with different drives and so on. more to test
also back then VULKAN wasnt a thing
i hope they bring their games to linux on steam, gog and itch too
[Off topic, but how the hell did you manage to get a accent on your lower-case L character in "player"?? I thought it was a dead pixel on my monitor and only realised it was a unicode character when I scrolled up and noticed it was moving! :D
Thé ḿáǵíç óf ĺíńúx XD
The how isn't so difficult. I'm more wondering about the why. :S:
Before you spend big coin on Stadia, take a step back and browse the Google graveyard.
The second that I read you actually have to buy games, that exact thing came to mind. So unless there is a link to play games you own in other stores (highly doubt it), it would basically be the worst of all worlds.
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me