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[TwoDurans]

Google significantly expands Stadia with free tier, two months of Stadia Pro for all

Google's ambitious game streaming service came online last November and has spent the last five months adding features. Free Google Stadia...

9to5google.com

The initial buy-in to try Stadia is no longer required today. All that’s needed to sign-up is a Gmail account and downloading the mobile Android or iOS companion app. Over the next 48 hours, free Google Stadia access will be rolling out to the existing set of 14 countries: US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland

The monthly $9.99 Pro subscription offers 4K resolution and discounts when buying titles, expansions, and add-ons outright. However, free games that you can claim every month are the real attraction. There are currently nine titles, with access requiring that you keep subscribing: Destiny 2: The Collection, Grid, Gylt, SteamWorld Dig 2, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, Thumper, Serious Sam Collection, Spitlings, and Stacks On Stacks (On Stacks)

 

[Alexious]

This isn't really correct, though. Rather, Google is gifting two months of Stadia Pro. https://blog.google/products/stadia/try-stadia-free-today

 

[SCB3]

That was quite the stealth release, also is this the right time to launch? I mean Netflix and Youtube are restricting streams to 1080p so launching/allowing more users on a new streaming service is a bit odd

 

[hyperbertha]

 

[STARSBarry]

oh man this sounds like an amazing deal, sucks for everyone else who paid a ton of money for some low quality plastic tat they where told was required to do just this, bet they dont feel stupid at all.

Il have to pass though considering the entire service is joke, it's just more accessible now, how it should of launched to start with.

 

[Aranea]

Never had much faith on this service. Good for those that wanted to try it though.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I would sign up but none of those games interest me. I guess its worth signing up for potential future releases.

 

[GymWolf]

oh man this sounds like an amazing deal, sucks for everyone else who paid a ton of money for some low quality plastic tat they where told was required to do just this, bet they dont feel stupid at all.

Il have to pass though considering the entire service is joke, it's just more accessible now, how it should of launched to start with.

 

[CatLady]

Free is still WAY too expensive for Stadia

 

[jshackles]

Got three free months last week (for being a Youtube Premium subscriber) so I took them up on the offer. There were like 9 free games so it seemed like a good way to try it out for a while. One of them was Gylt which is exclusive and looked interesting.

Turns out, it runs like shit as everyone has been saying since launch. Stadia can't figure out how to run on my 21:9 display at all. Input times are pretty terrible (even for a stealth game like Gylt that's a problem). Playing the game looks like I'm viewing it through a glass jar or like I have vasoline smeared all over my screen.

I would not pay money for this, but I guess I have a few months to try and power through Gylt.

 

[ultrazilla]

Nah I'm good.

 

[IntentionalPun]

oh man this sounds like an amazing deal, sucks for everyone else who paid a ton of money for some low quality plastic tat they where told was required to do just this, bet they dont feel stupid at all.

Il have to pass though considering the entire service is joke, it's just more accessible now, how it should of launched to start with.

The service kinda sucks on a browser though, almost everyone who likes it has the Cromecast ultra.

The compression they use is different, and makes everything on the browser version look like shit last time I tried it (granted, they've been working on getting 4k in browser so I'd assume better compression at that point.)

 

[Shin]

Play Stadia Pro for free, starting today

Video games are a great way to socialize while at home, so we’re giving gamers in 14 countries free access to Stadia Pro for two months.

blog.google

 

[TTOOLL]

 

[Mokus]

Well, they kinda sank the boat, it will be hard to recover. They might need to rebrand the whole thing.

 

[Vawn]

Thread title should be updated. Google isn't releasing the free Stadia - they are just giving a free trial of the paid version for the next two months.

 

[CJY]

What's a sta...di...a?

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

 

[M1chl]

I am not so sure if I ever witnessed such a "launch" from billion dollar company which went absolutely nowhere. Sure MS have some of these product under their belt, but, this seems to be on a completely different level, because it was hardly mention on forums about gaming.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Free is still WAY too expensive for Stadia

Comments like this are extremely disrespectful to the 11 Stadia users out there!

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Thank you, V Voost Kain !

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Thank you, V Voost Kain !

No, thank you MHK, thank YOU.

 

[Dr.brain64]

$10? That's not bad.

 

[Mokus]

$10? That's not bad.

$10 per month and you have to buy the games.

 

[Ceadeus]

I just tried Destiny 2 on it and while making an account and playing is extremely quick and easy, the servers does not seem to be able to hold 1080p. The lag is intense too. I have 100mbit/s which is more than sufficient for even 4K streaming.

Ah well too bad!

 

[Kacho]

Nah I'm good.

Pretty much. All of my options now are way better than free Stadia.

 

[JimboJones]

I got 3 months for being a YouTube premium member, gave it a go.
Works pretty well, got into a game of serious sam with 6 others pretty quick, I'd love somthing like this as an option but not as a primary method of gaming, like you could play the cloud version as it downloaded locally or just if you don't feel like waiting for it to download at a friend's house or something, or even just for demos.

 

[Birdo]

Still not interested.

 

[Mokus]

I just tried Destiny 2 on it and while making an account and playing is extremely quick and easy, the servers does not seem to be able to hold 1080p. The lag is intense too. I have 100mbit/s which is more than sufficient for even 4K streaming.

Ah well too bad!

No surprise there because now everyone uses the internet.

 

[Sosokrates]

Dont work for me, says i need an invite code and when i press to get one it wants me to spend £119? on a starter pack thing?

 

[Ceadeus]

No surprise there because now everyone uses the internet.

Yeah, so you believe their servers are having hard time ?

 

[Shizumapower]

No, thank you MHK, thank YOU.

Hey Cult I have 3 month Stadia Pro code if you want it. (seriously)

 

[CrustyBritches]

Dont work for me, says i need an invite code and when i press to get one it wants me to spend £119? on a starter pack thing?

Same thing I ran into. Where's the sign-up for the free tier?

 

[BusierDonkey]

I'll hold out for the deal where they pay me for voluntarily giving them new ways to access all my personal info.

 

[Mokus]

Maybe. But it's not that the main issue. You share the "bandwidth" with others across the world. And when on certain segments is to crowded, less data will reach.

 

[Thanati]

$10 per month and you have to buy the games.

Actually no. They released the free service today as well. So all you have to do is pay for the games and not a monthly charge.

 

[Shizumapower]

In your PM Cult.

 

[Fuz]

 

[CatLady]

I'll hold out for the deal where they pay me for voluntarily giving them new ways to access all my personal info.

Best post in this thread

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

In your PM Cult.

Thanks man, will check it out

 

[Fuz]

By the way, you still have to rent buy the games, no?

 

[Shizumapower]

In your PM Cult.

Thanks man, will check it out

Cool, let us know what you think. I've been curious... but waay too much going on.


EDIT: Wait- did you gift me Gold? You are too good man! Show love to the CULT!

 

[Deleted member 17706]

The service kinda sucks on a browser though, almost everyone who likes it has the Cromecast ultra.

The compression they use is different, and makes everything on the browser version look like shit last time I tried it (granted, they've been working on getting 4k in browser so I'd assume better compression at that point.)

I tried Destiny on a browser using a 4K screen and, yeah, it looked pretty awful. Basically like watching Twitch.

 

[jshackles]

By the way, you still have to rent buy the games, no?

Yes and no. Stadia Pro (which is what Google is offering here free for two months) includes a monthly selection of games you can claim and add to your account. Think of them like the GwG or PS+ offerings, you claim them once and they stay on your account as long as you're subscribed.

Here is a list of the current offerings:

All of which you can currently play "for free".

 

[JimboJones]

By the way, you still have to rent buy the games, no?

Yeah you gotta buy, there's a bunch of "free" ones on there like destiny, serious Sam and a few others I forget their names, but plenty their to get a feel of the service.

 

[Fuz]

All of which you can currently play "for free".

And apart from Destiny, which is free *forever* elsewhere, those games are pretty forgettable.

 

[jshackles]

And apart from Destiny, which is free *forever* elsewhere, those games are pretty forgettable.

Agreed. Like I mentioned above, I really only signed on for Gylt and to just check it out in general.

Worth noting that the Destiny 2 collection includes the expansions (which aren't free) if that's something you might care about. But I 100% agree that this is a sad, sad lineup.

EDIT: this is what their storefront / pricing looks like for those interested:

(aka not exciting!)

 

[Stuart360]

Dont work for me, says i need an invite code and when i press to get one it wants me to spend £119? on a starter pack thing?

Same thing I ran into. Where's the sign-up for the free tier?

 

[TwoDurans]

And apart from Destiny, which is free *forever* elsewhere, those games are pretty forgettable.

Gylt is pretty good if you're bored and have a few hours to kill. Don't know if it'd be worth buying, but can you really beat free for signing up for the two month trial?

 

[Mokus]

Yeah, so you believe their servers are having hard time ?

Sorry, but I have to correct myself. Looks like Google is purposely limits the resolution output to 1080p in order to avoid overloading the internet.

With increased demand due to more people at home during this time, we’re taking a responsible approach to internet traffic. For Stadia, we’ve always adjusted bandwidth use based on a variety of in-home and local internet factors. To reduce load on the internet further, we’re working toward a temporary feature that changes the default screen resolution from 4k to 1080p. The vast majority of people on a desktop or laptop won’t notice a significant drop in gameplay quality, but you can choose your data usage options in the Stadia app.

https://blog.google/products/stadia/try-stadia-free-today