Stadia, Google's new fancy Linux-powered game streaming service is officially set to launch on November 19, that is if you forked out for the expensive Stadia Founder's Edition.
In the blog post over on Google, written by John Justice the "Vice President of Product, Stadia", they mention that the Founder's Edition should start arriving on doorsteps on November 19. From then, you will be able to buy and play games beginning at 4PM UTC and it will work across devices right away (so you don't need to use that fancy Chromecast Ultra). As long as your Linux PC has a Chrome browser installed, it should work fine.
However, there's an important note included to say that they will be shipped out "in the same order that pre-orders were received". So if your country still had them available yesterday and you ordered, you're probably in for a wait. Justice said once your package ships, you will then get an email and sometime shortly after a code to activate it all.
As a reminder, while Stadia is a game streaming service it's not like Netflix since you do still need to buy the games just like you would on Steam or GOG. The "Pro" subscription at around £8.99 / $9.99 a month gives you 4K, surround sound, discounts and the occasional free game. The Base Stadia account is not a subscription but it's not free, since again you buy games.
We have a Stadia Founder's Edition ordered to cover here, so keep an eye out later next month to see what we think of it. Well, whenever our unit arrives anyway, we're probably way back in the queue due to when we confirmed our order.
Google also put out a quick overview video today too:
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There was a note in the video that you can only use the Stadia Controller in wireless mode with the Chromecast Ultra on a TV at launch, although wired mode and other gamepads/keyboard will work fine on PC.
Apart from the launch date and the note about shipping based on the order queue, no other info was given out. They also didn't mention if anyone can buy a Stadia Pro subscription then or if everyone else just has to wait until next year when Stadia rolls out fully.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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BrazilianGamer Oct 15, 2019
Question. Will it work on Chromium?
1 Likes, Who?
Question. Will it work on Chromium?Possibly not. Will be able to test hopefully next month.
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From what I read somewhere, it's because the original Chromecast doesn't support VP9.and it will work across devices right away (so you don't need to use that fancy Chromecast Ultra). As long as your Linux PC has a Chrome browser installed, it should work fine.
I don't get this it should work on normal chrome browser even on android phones??. So then it should work in a normal ChromecastUH?
1 Likes, Who?
Oh goodie. The ultimate DRM and censorship scheme. I'm so excited this is being warmly received because the servers happen to be running on Linux.
12 Likes, Who?
Oh goodie. The ultimate DRM and censorship scheme. I'm so excited this is being warmly received because the servers happen to be running on Linux.I totally understand your concerns here, I really do, I pointed out the issues with it numerous times already. It's not just that it runs Linux, it runs on Linux too with Chrome so it can help plug another gap in gaming for those who want it. Still, not entirely sure who their market is exactly...
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 15 October 2019 at 7:58 pm UTC
6 Likes, Who?
Oh goodie. The ultimate DRM and censorship scheme. I'm so excited this is being warmly received because the servers happen to be running on Linux.I totally understand you concerns here, I really do, I pointed out the issues with it numerous times already. It's not just that it runs Linux, it runs on Linux with Chrome too so it can help plug another gap in gaming for those who want it. Still, not entirely sure who their market is exactly...
Is it worth it? Here is what game steaming/GAAS costs us: Unauthorized mods, unauthorized games in general, the ability to get data files for neat little things like OpenMW and OpenLara, the GUARANTEE you can keep playing the game you paid for as far as the service goes, and the ability to play a bloody thing when the internet happens to be on the fritz.
8 Likes, Who?
preludelinux Oct 15, 2019
I am not liking what i am seeing here. you get to buy games and pay for a streaming service (premium) ... so its like renting games to stream and not being able to download them. if the service goes belly up you lose all your games and investment. its a perfect DRM to lock you in to using only there central services. i see this being a strong DRM platform. Long Term how will this work out with games and the cost to have the newest video cards etc even for google to run this in the data center ... sounds like a loss. also now i see why there not actively wanting this to equal more linux games its the ultimate vendor lock in. if the base service is free google is looking to make money from the game sales, so the main focus is to lock you into there new DRM platform where you buy games but you don't own the games outside there platform. this gives a ton of power to google. this can also locks in gaming companies to this new DRM they will be even less likely to support other systems.
If this was a streaming service like Netflix it would be a little different because with streaming you dont have to buy each game nor think about ownership and overall would be the better way to go. psnow is more like this and some games you can download now as long as you pay your sub you can play the games it gives you access too.
If this was a streaming service like Netflix it would be a little different because with streaming you dont have to buy each game nor think about ownership and overall would be the better way to go. psnow is more like this and some games you can download now as long as you pay your sub you can play the games it gives you access too.
1 Likes, Who?
apocalyptech Oct 15, 2019
It'll certainly be interesting to see how this works in the long-term. I'm excited that it's presumably at least getting some companies to get their games to run on Linux (although I wonder how much porting work is being done by Google as well), which I'd hope should be a good thing for "real" Linux ports in the long term.
That said, I just can't fathom the mindset of someone willing to buy a game on this platform. Spending $60 to buy a service-backed game from Google, of all companies, the absolute kings of just shutting down services that aren't profitable enough with a few weeks' warning. I admit that my overall outlook on the longevity of the service remains gloomy, since I can't imagine there's that many people willing to spend money on such a dicey gamble, given Google's history. Though of course it's attitudes like that which make the thing's seemingly-inevitable shutdown all the more likely.
Anyway, with luck we'll at least have some new developers/publishers who have some more Linux skills under their belts, and we can end up with some more real games in the future.
That said, I just can't fathom the mindset of someone willing to buy a game on this platform. Spending $60 to buy a service-backed game from Google, of all companies, the absolute kings of just shutting down services that aren't profitable enough with a few weeks' warning. I admit that my overall outlook on the longevity of the service remains gloomy, since I can't imagine there's that many people willing to spend money on such a dicey gamble, given Google's history. Though of course it's attitudes like that which make the thing's seemingly-inevitable shutdown all the more likely.
Anyway, with luck we'll at least have some new developers/publishers who have some more Linux skills under their belts, and we can end up with some more real games in the future.
1 Likes, Who?
apocalyptech Oct 15, 2019
I don't see google as a negative monopoly in this case it is a positive monopoly if they were that evil, they would work with the Chinese government to control everything because that would be their wet dream right?
Heh, I'm veering wildly offtopic here, but, er: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/02/google-working-on-censored-search-engine-for-china
4 Likes, Who?
Oh goodie. The ultimate DRM and censorship scheme. I'm so excited this is being warmly received because the servers happen to be running on Linux.
as far as i know stadia games dont even use vulkan for windows
i hope this will change soon, or stadia is very useless for linux gaming
0 Likes
So Liam, can we expect you will try that controller to see if it works on your Linux machine?
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ElectricPrism Oct 15, 2019
Bitter Sweet, or Sweet Bitter -- time will tell.
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Doc Angelo Oct 15, 2019
as far as i know stadia games dont even use vulkan for windows
i hope this will change soon, or stadia is very useless for linux gaming
Stadia doesn't run Windows on the game streaming servers. They run Debian Linux.
2 Likes, Who?
If I ever try Stadia or Vortex.gg, I'd only use it to play games that have anti-cheat systems that aren't supported by Proton/Wine. No point if the games run in Wine, unless you want to play on your phone over the Internet or your computer is a toaster.
Last edited by Xaero_Vincent on 15 October 2019 at 9:08 pm UTC
Last edited by Xaero_Vincent on 15 October 2019 at 9:08 pm UTC
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as far as i know stadia games dont even use vulkan for windows
i hope this will change soon, or stadia is very useless for linux gaming
Stadia doesn't run Windows on the game streaming servers. They run Debian Linux.
i know, but vulkan does and games like destiny 2 use dx on windows, even if they need vulkan on stadia
1 Likes, Who?
as far as i know stadia games dont even use vulkan for windows
i hope this will change soon, or stadia is very useless for linux gaming
Stadia doesn't run Windows on the game streaming servers. They run Debian Linux.
i know, but vulkan does and games like destiny 2 use dx on windows, even if they need vulkan on stadia
Of course it does, AAA games such as this have been in development for many years before Google even announced Stadia and there is just no way that a company like Bungie would change their entire engine from DX to Vulkan in the last weeks of release. Also the XBox version is probably their main release anyway this being Bungie after all.
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I am convinced it will be adequate to good experience. The worries I have is implications Stadia's rise will have for gaming as a whole. I imagine we will see games being exclusive to Stadia, further tarnishing PC landscape (Epic). And not only just a exclusivity to Stadia market but possibly another kind of exclusivity: streaming only.
There are many other issues too, such as Google not being fair to developers by rejecting or burying their games because they don't have the "right" political view. Or that their game is "problematic".
The only positives I see is Vulkan being adopted more and Stadia making it harder for EGS to be successful. Hopefully it will also help with Linux ecosystem in general more than it will hurt us. I mean if Google really cared about desktop Linux they could, at very least, encourage developers to also develop their games (local version) on Stadia for a distribution of their choice: either Debian or Ubuntu. I won't hold my breath, that's wishful thinking. They seem like the type to use Linux primarily for their own gain.
As for a company or government controlling information it should be quite clear that Google does that.
Last edited by Linuxwarper on 15 October 2019 at 11:16 pm UTC
There are many other issues too, such as Google not being fair to developers by rejecting or burying their games because they don't have the "right" political view. Or that their game is "problematic".
The only positives I see is Vulkan being adopted more and Stadia making it harder for EGS to be successful. Hopefully it will also help with Linux ecosystem in general more than it will hurt us. I mean if Google really cared about desktop Linux they could, at very least, encourage developers to also develop their games (local version) on Stadia for a distribution of their choice: either Debian or Ubuntu. I won't hold my breath, that's wishful thinking. They seem like the type to use Linux primarily for their own gain.
everyone is so eager to see all the negatives. I think that we owe a lot to google for making the modern internet what it is, we wouldn't have android, and lot of tech advances. I don't see google as a negative monopoly in this case it is a positive monopoly if they were that evil, they would work with the Chinese government to control everything because that would be their wet dream right?Correct me if I'm wrong but has Google not benefited from technologies that FOSS developers have made? Furthermore is it not part of their development process to make their projects open source partially because this will allow developers outside their company to chip in and help the development? So why should FOSS enthusiasts be grateful for them when it seems their actions are largely motivated by their own self interest?
I said this before I'm not afraid of companies controlling your data, governments controlling the data that´s worrisome.
As for a company or government controlling information it should be quite clear that Google does that.
Last edited by Linuxwarper on 15 October 2019 at 11:16 pm UTC
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GustyGhost Oct 15, 2019
I will derive great joy from watching how this unfolds from a safe distance.
How will the monkeys react when their masters dump a round of streaming bananas into the roof of their cage?
How will the monkeys react when their masters dump a round of streaming bananas into the roof of their cage?
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as far as i know stadia games dont even use vulkan for windows
i hope this will change soon, or stadia is very useless for linux gaming
Stadia doesn't run Windows on the game streaming servers. They run Debian Linux.
i know, but vulkan does and games like destiny 2 use dx on windows, even if they need vulkan on stadia
Of course it does, AAA games such as this have been in development for many years before Google even announced Stadia and there is just no way that a company like Bungie would change their entire engine from DX to Vulkan in the last weeks of release. Also the XBox version is probably their main release anyway this being Bungie after all.
weeks?
stadia was announced 7 months ago and they had some games to show, so some developers already had a dev kit back then
plenty of time to use vulkan if you ask me
Last edited by mylka on 16 October 2019 at 12:24 am UTC
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I certainly am intending to try Stadia for its technical aspects if nothing else. I really do think streaming gaming can and will be revolutionary (see the upcoming MS Flight Sim 2020 which will stream Bing high resolution mapping data for the ENTIRE WORLD into the flight sim for unparalleled realism). There are many reasons to be concerned, which many have outlined, but there's huge promise here too.
As far as Stadia itself, I'm actually predicting its influence will be less than anticipated/feared, due to its pricing scheme. I thought Google would want to make the Netflix of Gaming but I think the pricing will effectively prevent that...
As far as Stadia itself, I'm actually predicting its influence will be less than anticipated/feared, due to its pricing scheme. I thought Google would want to make the Netflix of Gaming but I think the pricing will effectively prevent that...
1 Likes, Who?
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