Players will have to pay $129.99 up front and $9.99 a month, on top of individual game purchase costs, when Google’s previously announced Stadia game-streaming service launches in November. A free tier will be available some time in 2020, as will a paid subscription tier that doesn’t require the upfront purchase.
The Stadia Founder’s Edition and its contingent Stadia Pro subscription will be the only way to get access to the Stadia service when it launches, Google announced today. That $129.99 package, available for pre-order on the Google Store right now, will include:
After the first three months, Stadia Pro users will have to pay $9.99 a month to maintain their membership. For that price, they will get access to Google’s highest-quality streams, at up to 4K/60fps with high-dynamic range (HDR) and 5.1 surround sound. In 2019, users will not be able to sign up for Stadia Pro without investing in the Founder’s Edition hardware package, and Founder’s Edition packages will only be available “in limited quantities and for a limited time.”
| Stadia side-by-side | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stadia Pro/Founder’s Edition | Stadia Base | |
| Available | November (only option at launch) | “2020” |
| Upfront cost | $129.99 | None |
| Included up front | Chromecast Ultra, Stadia controller, three-month subscription + three-month “buddy pass,” | Nothing |
| Monthly cost | $9.99 | None |
| Maximum stream quality | 4K resolution, 60 fps, 5.1 surround sound, HDR color | 1080p resolution, 60fps, stereo sound |
| Supported devices (at launch) | Chromecast Ultra; Computer w/ Chrome browser; Google Pixel 3/3a | |
| Additional games | Purchase a la carte on either tier | |
| Other Benefits | Discounts on game purchases; free games at “regular cadence”; early reservation of “Stadia name” | None |
Countries
At launch, Stadia streaming will be available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Additional regions will be added in 2020.
Pro subscribers will also receive PlayStation Plus/Xbox Live Gold-style benefits, including discounts on game purchases and free games released at a “regular cadence.” The first of these freebies, , will be available to Pro subscribers at launch in a package including all current and future expansions plus the ability to transfer an existing Guardian from the PC or Xbox edition (PS4 transfers are currently “pending approval by Sony”). These free titles will remain accessible as long as users maintain their monthly subscription.
Sometime next year, Google says it plans to roll out a free tier of Stadia service, called Stadia Base. Users on this tier will be limited to 1080p, 60fps streams with stereo sound.
Games and hardware support
Alongside its pricing announcement, Google announced a lineup of 21 publishers and 31 games that will be available on Stadia in the “launch window” (see sidebar). It’s a list that includes yet-to-release titles like and as well as the newly announced and . That list will grow as new announcements are made leading up to the November rollout, the company said.
Stadia launch window games/publishers
Announced as of June 6, here are the titles early Stadia users can expect:
* – No specific games announced yet
+ – Games not yet launched on any platform.
Aside from free titles on the Pro tier, all Stadia games will be purchased on an a la carte basis. Google was not ready to discuss individual game pricing, but Stadia VP of Product John Justice told Ars those prices will be set by the publishers themselves. “We’re working with them to make sure it’s competitive pricing to what you would see on other platforms,” Justice said.
While there are no free-to-play titles amid the first round of announced Stadia titles, “you will see us start to include some on the platform” as time goes on, Justice said. Google also didn’t show off the Stadia system or store interface, but Justice said the latter would be “as frictionless as possible, [needing] as few seconds as possible from finding out about a game to be[ing] able to jump in.” Justice would not discuss revenue sharing arrangements between Google and its publishing partners.
Google is now recommending users have at least a 10mbps Internet connection to use Stadia. With that connection, users can expect to run games “at least” at 720p and 60 frames per second. Pro users who want the highest-end streaming experience should have a connection of at least 35mbps, Justice said, though streaming quality will scale seamlessly below that level.
While any any desktop, laptop, or tablet running a desktop version of Chrome will be able to use Stadia (with a required Pro subscription, at launch), mobile support will be limited to the Pixel 3 and 3a line at launch. Google says service will be “expanding to other phones over time.”
Stadia users will also be able to stream games through a Chromecast Ultra connected to a TV if they use Google’s proprietary Stadia controller. Extra Stadia controllers, beyond the one included in the Founder’s Edition, will cost $69 in the US and be available in three colors: Just Black, Clearly White, and Wasabi.
As previously announced, Stadia games run on custom Linux-based server hardware maintained by Google, promising “10.7 teraflops of power in each instance.” Game audio and video is streamed from those servers to a user’s device, and inputs are streamed from the user to the server over a network of what Google says are “7,500 edge nodes” around the world. Users will be able to immediately jump into supported games without having to wait for downloads or installs, and they will be able to carry gameplay from device to device seamlessly, Google says.
Today’s announcement does not mention any possible “first party” games produced by Google’s internal gaming studios. Google’s Phil Harrison has previously hinted to future Stadia games leveraging platform-specific perks like “distributed physics” processing in the cloud or the official Stadia controller’s built-in microphone.
