In their latest community update, the Stadia Team have given a small insight into what's coming to the Linux-powered game streaming service Stadia across 2020.
Missed our first impressions of Stadia? Check them out here.
They said "more than" 120 games will be coming to Stadia this year, more interestingly though they also mentioned that 10 will be arriving in the "first half of this year" that will "only" be on Stadia when they launch. So that's presumably some timed-exclusives they have going. No names were mentioned, so we just have to wait and see.
120 doesn't sound like a lot, when compared with how many launch per month on Steam but the difference here of course is how Google will be curating the selection to pull in big titles.
Over the next three months they will also be rolling out 4K support in the web browser, more Google Assistant features in the web browser, more Android phone support and finally wireless gameplay on the web browser with the official Stadia Controller.
Personally, I think unless Google will be rolling out Stadia Base soon the whole timed-exclusive thing doesn't make sense. What's Stadia Base? It's what everyone who doesn't pay for Stadia Pro will get, it's limited to 1080p but anyone can register an account and buy/play games at that point. So why pay for developers to release on Stadia first, when only people who purchase the Founder/Premier bundle can access? Since they mentioned the features coming in the next few months, I would expect Stadia Base to launch before the end of March to coincide with it working across a wider availability of devices.
Additionally, Tequila Works who developed the Stadia-exclusive Gylt spoke to GamesIndustry.biz and they sound quite positive about their experience working with Google. They went so far as to say Gylt had the "smoothest production for a Tequila Works game ever.". They also mentioned "a few features that are going to blow people's minds" when they launch on Stadia at some point.
For people in the UK, BT are currently offering a Stadia Premiere Edition (includes Chromecast Ultra, Stadia controller and Stadia Pro) with certain broadband bundles you can see here. From the press release:
We continually look to provide our customers with the most exciting products and experiences, and by partnering with Google on Stadia, we’re able to help them push the limits of gaming. We’re also investing in the UK’s fastest 4G, 5G and fibre networks, so our superfast home broadband service is the perfect accompaniment for those wanting to make the most from this innovative streaming gaming platform.
Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer Division
The offer with BT runs until January 30, with it stopping and then starting again on February 7. It's an odd short break, perhaps between those dates is when Stadia Base will launch?
I've had a good personal experience with Stadia but I'm definitely wanting to know what Valve have planned, for whatever this Steam Cloud Gaming turns out to be. It could be a real headshot against Google if done right. Hopefully we find out soon.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: mao_dze_dunMicrosoft and EA are both friends with Valve againThey are? I don't follow the broader news in this area; how did that happen?
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 17 January 2020 at 5:28 pm UTC
I'd say for Stadia to have any chance of long term success, they have to develop a couple exclusives that appeal to the masses (or hand out plenty stuff for free like Epic does). Neither would make them any dearer to me ...
gradyvuckovic Jan 18, 2020
Exclusives for a gaming platform that is incomplete and lacking features, is enraging.
Exclusives for a gaming platform that is incomplete and lacking features, and requires buying new hardware and paying a subscription to access, is insulting.
Exclusives for a gaming platform that is incomplete and lacking features, and requires buying new hardware and paying a subscription to access, and officially only available in US/Canada/parts of Europe, is trolling on a corporate scale.
Exclusives for a gaming platform that is incomplete and lacking features, and requires buying new hardware and paying a subscription to access, and officially only available in US/Canada/parts of Europe, and a game streaming platform with minimum latency and speed requirements,... is downright cruel.
Slow clap for Google, Thanks Google! For locking 10 games behind a virtual wall that prevents the majority of the planet from being able to buy or play them.
The only positive is that at least the exclusivity is timed, so eventually the games will hopefully come to platforms that everyone in the world can access, hopefully a very short period of time, like 3 months.
It's fine for those who live in regions with fast connections who happen to live the US/Canada/parts of Europe and happy/able to sign up to Stadia, but for those who don't live in those areas, it seems we're just going to get shafted out of game streaming when combined with exclusivity. If there was any chance of me paying for Stadia when it eventually comes to Australia, it disappeared the moment Google decided to shaft me, just because they don't want my money 'yet'.
Quoting: SirLootALotEpic started timed exclusives on PC and now Stadia follows their lead. I can only consider that anti-consumer. Such practices greatly reduce the chances of me spending money on your service.
there is no such a thing a san world without exclusives.
there is either:
'sony get 20 exclusives, microsoft get 20 exclusives, nintendo get 20 exclusives, and everything else is multiplatform'
or
'almost everything is windows exclusive, other platforms have to try emulators to maybe be able to run something wit an crapy performance and an experience that vary from game to game, varing from run fine to run with tons of bugs.'
i used to be against exclusives too, but nowadays i see that this is an utopy.
microsoft is playing dumb breaking their own exclusivity deals because they know that, in an world without exclusives, anyone with the biggest marketshare win.
Last edited by elmapul on 18 January 2020 at 6:45 pm UTC
hopefully, they are 10 triple a games, because indie we already have enough, and any platform can play then anyway so there is no point in playing then via streaming
TacoDeBoss Jan 19, 2020
Quoting: Purple Library GuyMicrosoft and EA are both releasing their games on Steam again - I think they're both realizing that the restrictions to Microsoft Store and Origin are just limiting their profit margins. No idea, but Microsoft being all buddy-buddy with Valve is turning out to be a very bad thing for us.Quoting: mao_dze_dunMicrosoft and EA are both friends with Valve againThey are? I don't follow the broader news in this area; how did that happen?
Quoting: TacoDeBossEh, that's not "friends" or even a collaboration for mutual gain. That's just MS and EA suffering a tactical defeat from Steam's superior network effects, and facing reality.Quoting: Purple Library GuyMicrosoft and EA are both releasing their games on Steam again - I think they're both realizing that the restrictions to Microsoft Store and Origin are just limiting their profit margins. No idea, but Microsoft being all buddy-buddy with Valve is turning out to be a very bad thing for us.Quoting: mao_dze_dunMicrosoft and EA are both friends with Valve againThey are? I don't follow the broader news in this area; how did that happen?
SirLootALot Jan 19, 2020
Quoting: elmapulthere is no such a thing a san world without exclusives.
there is either:
'sony get 20 exclusives, microsoft get 20 exclusives, nintendo get 20 exclusives, and everything else is multiplatform'
or
'almost everything is windows exclusive, other platforms have to try emulators to maybe be able to run something wit an crapy performance and an experience that vary from game to game, varing from run fine to run with tons of bugs.'
i used to be against exclusives too, but nowadays i see that this is an utopy.
microsoft is playing dumb breaking their own exclusivity deals because they know that, in an world without exclusives, anyone with the biggest marketshare win.
If a game is developed for only one platform it is not an exclusive. It becomes exclusive at the point where an agreement is done with whoever to exclude a certain platform from development.
It is one thing to not care about a platform. Actively hindering that platform to prosper is a different thing.
Also I do not agree with your statement on Windows becoming the only gaming platform without exclusives. Yes Exclusives sell consoles. Without exclusives consoles would have to offer another benefit over the PC. If they can not do that they would die (rightfully so). However Linux and MacOS have been around without attention from game developers and do obviously offer a meaningful benefit for the user over Windows, therefore there will always be Linux and MacOS users and there will always be a market of Linux and MacOS users to sell their games to. That would also apply to any cloud gaming platform, arcade hall or any other gaming platform assuming there is a meaningful enough benefit offered or a market to capitalize on.
Quoting: SirLootALotIf a game is developed for only one platform it is not an exclusive. It becomes exclusive at the point where an agreement is done with whoever to exclude a certain platform from development.Totally agree, developing for one platform is not exclusivity. That said I would wager alot that many if not all of the games in 2020 will be exclusive to Stadia because of a agreement.
It is one thing to not care about a platform. Actively hindering that platform to prosper is a different thing.
Gylt Exclusivity
QuoteExcept it is not.
Eurogamer spoke to Raúl Rubio Munárriz, co-founder and creative director of Tequila Works and asked for clarification as, until way in to 2020, the only way to play Gylt is to fork out £120 on the Google Stadia Founder Edition package and that seems rather limiting.
“OK we haven’t confirmed that it’s an exclusive yet,” he said “that’s a question we cannot answer”.
Wait. What? Is it a timed exclusive?
“We haven’t answered that yet and I cannot answer yet” is the reply.
So it’s coming to other platforms?
“I cannot answer yet.” evades Munárriz. “Of course, we will try to make Gylt accessible for everyone. I guess it’s not a design question, it’s more of a business question. Today is not the time to answer that question but rest assured, everyone will be able to play the game.”
Quoting: LinuxwarperI wouldn't bet against "many" exclusives--that's rather an indefinite target. Ten, which we have already, could be "many". But if it gets into "the majority" territory, there's gonna be some serious backlash given how much of the world can't actually use Stadia at all. At that point they've effectively stolen gaming from everywhere in the world that can't access Stadia. Be a lot of people worldwide hating on Google, just when issues like "antitrust" have started to be raised seriously even in the USA.Quoting: SirLootALotIf a game is developed for only one platform it is not an exclusive. It becomes exclusive at the point where an agreement is done with whoever to exclude a certain platform from development.Totally agree, developing for one platform is not exclusivity. That said I would wager alot that many if not all of the games in 2020 will be exclusive to Stadia because of a agreement.
It is one thing to not care about a platform. Actively hindering that platform to prosper is a different thing.
Google could probably pay off all the game companies enough to go for it anyway if they really wanted, they've got more money than God, but how long could they keep on paying all the game companies to dump half their markets? More likely they'll just do enough high profile games to drive a bunch of people to the store in the first place, hoping that many will keep using it once they've had a taste.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 20 January 2020 at 5:36 am UTC
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