Welcome to my opinion piece on Google Stadia, a service I both hate and love with a passion!
Let me start by saying that I admire Google for what they are trying to do with Stadia, but at the same time, I think the collector in me disagrees whole heartedly with their “pure digital” approach!
Google Stadia is nothing more than a fresh breath of air and an idea like no others, to say goodbye to physical consoles and just the need to buy a controller to play on TV, PC or others. Do away with the need to have games installed, pick up from the same point as another online player (or “influencer”) and so much more.
The idea is such a groundbreaking new way to approach games and at the same time no need for a physical copy or even an install on the hard drive of your console. Everything sounds futuristic and while the servers of Google will be capable of delivering this, I wonder about the feasibility of actually becoming mainstream.
Let me explain why, it all comes down to gamers like myself. I own all current consoles and I adore buying a physical game for on my shelf. Physical collecting will instantly die out because every single game will be digital on the platform. This will be an annoyance to a minority of gamers, but will it be sufficient to keep them off of the platform? I know I will keep buying physical over digital unless there really becomes an incentive to go digital only. That incentive is purely financial. Make them so cheap I can only go for digital, right?
Next is the lack of current information. How long will the games be available on Stadia? Are these finally the “purchase for life” games and also supported for as long as you are subscribed or will they disappear once a license expires or even when a game drops off of everyone’s radar? Maybe even silently removed like some other console eShops have proven to bear witness to…
With the entire cloud behind it, how well will those games really fare and will we not get an overpopulated store in the end, where any random junk/shovelware title will be present and how will it be moderated? So far, around 30 great AAA titles have been announced, but the lack of information here is what really worries me. Will we be seeing a list of indie titles announced any time soon?
Another point of worry, the way some other companies do their online services. Take for instance Microsoft and the new Game Pass Ultimate. 15 bucks a month and hundreds of “great to good” titles. How will Google topple this for their current 10 bucks a month and “select free games” policy? Maybe it will be too underwhelming at first?
On the other hand, we do not know everything yet! I am sure Google will be taking away several doubts in the weeks to come, but for now, I have more questions than answers. I will be ordering the Founder’s Pack soon as I do feel comfortable investing in it and well, I had been on the market to buy a Chromecast Ultra and its presence in the pack is more than welcome!
To be continued!
