7 months on, is Google Stadia worth using?
It’s been about seven months since Google launched its game streaming service, Google Stadia . At the time, Stadia was difficult to recommend. There was only a subscription-based Pro tier available, the game library was sparse , and Google hadn’t delivered many of the marquee features that were meant to make Stadia unique. It felt like you were paying to take part in a beta program — a feeling that’s become all-too-common when talking about Google services.
How much has Stadia improved in the last seven months? Is it finally good enough to recommend?
Finally free
When Stadia first launched, Google promised a free tier called Stadia Base was coming. Stadia Base (eventually rebranded to simply “Stadia”) wouldn’t have access to any of the free games you would get with Stadia Pro, but at least it offered a way for people to try the platform. And because much of the experience is dictated by the quality of your internet connection, it was important to let the pubic try the service without paying upfront.
Unfortunately, it took Google a very long time to launch this option. Google just released Stadia Base in April, bundling sign-ups a free two-month trial of Stadia Pro . But by waiting a full six months to release the free version, Google severely limited its user base, removing a lot of value from the platform.
The free version is finally (finally!) here.
Google has marketed Stadia as a place for people to come together and play games from anywhere. You can use your TV, computer, or even your phone . But adding a big paywall in the first few months made it hard for people to actually do that, especially in massive multiplayer games like Destiny 2. You have to give people a big incentive to switch to a completely new gaming platform, and a paid barrier of entry is not it.
Fortunately for Google, it seems making Stadia free has had some effect on the player base. According to 9to5Google , after the launch of the free tier, Destiny 2 had its concurrent players skyrocket, at least for a bit. Clearly, giving people access to the service for free was beneficial to the user base. But how many of those people will stick to the Pro tier after the two-month trial is over?
Still missing features
When Google announced Stadia, it revealed a number of features that could only be done on a game streaming platform. You would be able to press the Google Assistant button for help getting through a level, jump in a game at the exact same point as a streamer, and play on any screen. While most of these features sadly still haven’t made it to the platform, Google is slowly expanding the service.
The company has expanded the list of compatible devices by quite a bit. At the time of publishing, Stadia now works on nearly every flagship Samsung phone since the Galaxy S8 , the Razer Phone 1 and 2 , Asus ROG Phone 1 and 2 , and the OnePlus 8 and...
