Stadia Reddit AMA: ''Stadia Pro isn't “Netflix for Games” ...a closer comparison would be like Xbox Live Gold or Playstation Plus''

[P A Z]

I feel like I've woken up in the bizarroverse.

Why are some of you acting like Base Stadia is a feather in Stadia's cap?

It's literally itsfuckingnothing.gif until you hand some money over if you actually want to play something.

 

[Alucardx23]

I feel like I've woken up in the bizarroverse.

Why are some of you acting like Base Stadia is a feather in Stadia's cap?

It's literally itsfuckingnothing.gif until you hand some money over if you actually want to play something.

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Not having to pay the price of the console to play a game is nothing to you? This will be especially noticeable for next gen and the launch games for PS5 and Xbox Two, that will be available in Stadia as well.

 

[Agent X]

What did you folks expect? These games cost upwards of $200 million to develop and market, and you want them ALL at an affordable subscription cost?

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Not necessarily those games, but...

Netflix doesn't even have the majority of good or recent movies. How would a service like that survive if it didn't provide the majority of popular games? Do you think video game consumers would be happy with a service full of older content? It's hard to envision an all-inclusive subscription service that could work, and I imagine that's why google went with this model instead.

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I believe there's value in a service that has a copious amount of older content. There are a lot of older games that I'd love to fiddle around with, but never really felt like purchasing at the prices they were offering. That's actually one of the things that I find appealing about PlayStation Now--I can jump in and play a whole bunch of games that I never bought for one reason or another.

Maybe it's just me and my passion for classic video games, but would love to see Stadia host a huge collection of retro games. Imagine having instant access to games from Atari 2600, Intellivision, ColecoVision, NES, Genesis, TG-16, SNES, NeoGeo, Saturn, old computer platforms, etc. GameTap did this a decade ago, and I thought it was great! This would be a great opportunity for Stadia to reach a segment of the market that isn't currently being addressed adequately.

Moving on from the "big game library" (PS Now/Xbox Game Pass) concept...even with games only being sold a la carte, I personally feel Stadia would have a much better shot if they offered a good number of free or inexpensive (under $10) games. I'm not inclined to to throw down $50 to $60 for a single game on a new and unproven service. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, then I'd rather just buy those games on PSN or Steam. I would maybe consider getting a cheap little $5 or $10 games for kicks, especially if it's a game that isn't readily available elsewhere.

Honestly, you make a really good point and I agree with you . Maybe I am just old or whatever but I hate having to pay a never ending payment for something I never actually own. I would much rather shell out 400 every 6 years and just be done with it. The only way I would consider giving this a try and not just sticking with my PS or Xbox would be if it was a Netflix of games and I paid a cheapish subscription (under 20 a month) and got a mix of older titles I had missed on launch, indies and a few big bangers every now and again

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Good post. I know this isn't what Google has planned for Stadia now, but I hope they move in this direction.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I feel like I've woken up in the bizarroverse.

Why are some of you acting like Base Stadia is a feather in Stadia's cap?

It's literally itsfuckingnothing.gif until you hand some money over if you actually want to play something.

Click to shrink...

Just like any game console, except this one is free.

 

[Minilla]

This might have already been answered, but is it like ps plus in the way that say, if I subscribe day one, I obviously accumulate all the free games going forward, but if I subscribe month 6, I only start accumulating then, and don't get access to the 'free' ones before?

 

[MrBob]

I am so damn frustrated by the discussion around stadia. If they rolled this out as a beta, no one would have a problem. It gives every single person in America (with internet) which will be 5g covered in the next couple of years a 60 dollar entrance into gaming. Literally, the guy who just wants Madden no longer has to buy a 400 dollar console. It's not for us, but it's reach is astronomical. Not to mention "influencers" who travel will go ape shit for this service, boosting it's popularity similar to how gaming media boosted switches popularity.

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Buyng a console isn't a huge impediment. Your scenario is way over stated.

We will see about 5g coverage too. I'm skeptical it will be everywhere in a couple years.

Google has a huge history of dead products. This should be properly scrutinized until Google prove otherwise. Google projects are always hit and miss. I own a pixel 3 phone because I love the stock android experience but it hasn't always been a smooth experience. At least Google has committed to fixing this through software updates but their history isn't great. If Google do deliver with Stadia and don't abandon it this will be great for gaming. But they get no benefit ahead of time.

I still think ms is a much better position though because they can integrate both options together. Sony as well.

 

[Dreamwriter]

This might have already been answered, but is it like ps plus in the way that say, if I subscribe day one, I obviously accumulate all the free games going forward, but if I subscribe month 6, I only start accumulating then, and don't get access to the 'free' ones before?

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Correct. And if you unsubscribe you'll lose access to those free games you got, and when you resubscribe 6 months later you'll get your old games back but none of the ones released in the meantime.

 

[Minilla]

Correct. And if you unsubscribe you'll lose access to those free games you got, and when you resubscribe 6 months later you'll get your old games back but none of the ones released in the meantime.

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OK, thanks!

Yeah, not sure this service will take off initially with that offering.

 

[thebishop]

Boy, tough crowd for Stadia.

What is Era gonna do if this thing succeeds and sticks around?

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If it's only as good as Project Stream, I still think virtually everyone here will have an account. It's gonna facilitate some amazing communal gaming that so far no other streaming service is touting. Like imagine a From software thread with links to boss battles under various challenge conditions. Or linking to a Monster Hunter World party for playing or spectating. Or a URL to a Battle Royale match that's only Era players. That's if it's only "pretty good" and not the full 4k console experience they're promising. That alone would be a major new way we game.

If the streaming lives up to E3 previews and you literally can't tell the difference between Stadia and local rendering, that's even more disruptive. It's basically everything people like about the Switch with no compromises. It has the potential to end hardware generations entirely.

 

[Penny Royal]

Xcloud continues to look better and better every single day. I predict it will dominate streaming easily next gen. With stadia a far second place. And psnow a distant third.

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We'll never know because MS probably won't be sharing any Xcloud stats, just the same as they don't share GP subscriber stats.

 

[riotous]

Xcloud continues to look better and better every single day. I predict it will dominate streaming easily next gen. With stadia a far second place. And psnow a distant third.

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XCloud is starting out as a phone only service steaming at vanilla Xbox One quality though.

And coming out after Stadia.

I don't think MS thinks game streaming is going to be some huge thing for a while, they are in it for the long haul but it's a side business to their Xbox division.

 

[Dave.]

Why anyone would go with Stadia over xCloud is beyond me. Google better be ready for a spanking.

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Xcloud continues to look better and better every single day. I predict it will dominate streaming easily next gen. With stadia a far second place. And psnow a distant third.

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Seems Microsoft has one less competitor to worry about in the streaming game.

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I don't understand this whatsoever. I think you really have to be quite high on MS koolaid to think along these lines.

xCloud is also offering potential customers the opportunity to pay a sub to digitally buy games for full price and play them on a cloud server, but it's a 6 year old console "server" that was underpowered on it's launch day, and they don't have a free tier (unless you bring your own hardware, like PS4 in 2013). Exactly the same deal as Stadia, except not as good - costs money, for quite significantly worse performance.

Yes, MS also runs a game rental plan they will be almost certainly bundling / cross selling - Google is doing that with Uplay too, and I doubt it'll be the only one. If Phil Spencer is to be believed about he "doesn't care where you play the games, just that you play them", hell we may even see GamePass on Stadia soon! (I suspect not)

I guess people are just filling in Microsoft's many blanks with hopes and dreams? xCloud will be free with $1/month gamepass ultimate offers stacked for the next 3 years? They'll be ripping out all those X1S right away as soon as Scarlett Anacondas are available?

 

[riverfr0zen]

Google has a huge history of dead products. This should be properly scrutinized until Google prove otherwise. Google projects are always hit and miss.

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*Let's out biggest yawn ever*

 

[bxsonic]

I don't think this will be successful without a Netflix style service.

Hardcore gamers probably wouldn't mind spending the money to buy hardware so I don't see why they'd choose this over PS or Xbox.

On the other hand, casual gamers are probably not going to want to spend $60 on a game. I'm not sure who Stadia is trying to appeal to. A Netflix style service would probably have made a much bigger impact than this.

 

[Rendering...]

Lmao, they're going to have to sell me harder than that. I've got Game Pass Ultimate paid up for the next three years.

"Stadia is like XBL Gold or PS+. You know, the kind of service you probably already pay for."

 

[BlueManifest]

I don't think this will be successful without a Netflix style service.

Hardcore gamers probably wouldn't mind spending the money to buy hardware so I don't see why they'd choose this over PS or Xbox.

On the other hand, casual gamers are probably not going to want to spend $60 on a game. I'm not sure who Stadia is trying to appeal to. A Netflix style service would probably have made a much bigger impact than this.

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Some reasons why they would choose it over Xbox or PS

- Entry price is much cheaper, or free
- Stadia is stronger
- Online play is free
- You will eventually be able to play your games on almost any device

 

[CommodoreKong]

That is the hope at least, but it requires an aspect of trust that I just don't have at the launch of a new service. While Google is never going anywhere, If Stadia doesn't meet their expectations they have no obligation to keep it running. So the service is going to have to mature before I begin to trust it imo

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Yeah this is a big issue Google has. They kill off stuff so often that people aren't going to trust it being around long term. And this is probably a pretty expensive project that's going to take a long time to start making money.

 

[Kaiken]

If they can promise a rock hard connection with ideal input lag and no artifacting... I'll give it a shot.

 

[Landford]

Google will cut this shit real quick when they realize they will have millions of people using the free sub to play free games (Like Warframe, maybe, and Destiny) without spending a fucking cent. For months on end.

 

[IamFlying]

Yeah thats the weird thing. I guess its for people that are maybe on the move alot? But thats a small audience i guess.
Or you really like streaming over native stuff at home. But that seems odd. Some people had the argument its for people that cant buy the latest console. But you would think if someone can get internet that can run 4k/60 and pay 60 buck for a game can afford a latest console also.

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People who are on the move a lot still need a very fast and lag free internet connection. Even in hotels that offer fast internet the lag is normally unbearable for online games (and fast internet normally cost extra). And you still would need to take the stadia controller with you, otherwise the lag would even be greater.

I mean taking a Switch with you or even one of the stationary consoles could probably be easier and result in better gameplay than Stadia.

 

[IamFlying]

Being able to use my iPad or laptop on the go for 4K60 gaming from a Chrome window sounds absolutely fantastic.

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On the go? This is not a Switch, Stadia is not for on the go, it needs a very good and stable internet connection you will hardly find "on the go", otherwise your gaming experience will be frustrating. And you need the Stadia controller on top of that.

 

[Ocean]

On the go? This is not a Switch, Stadia is not for on the go, it needs a very good and stable internet connection you will hardly find "on the go", otherwise your gaming experience will be frustrating. And you need the Stadia controller on top of that.

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I own a Switch, but I can't stand using it as a portable. The screen sucks, joy-cons are tiny and uncomfortable, performance is mediocre, wi-fi is inexplicably bad etc etc.

I don't play on public transportation or anything but I'm frequently in a hotel room. I'd much rather use an iPad with a decent screen, using a properly sized controller, and get 4K60 instead.

I linked to a site I use earlier to book hotels with good WiFi - it's a must-use tool!

 

[BloodHound]

Google will cut this shit real quick when they realize they will have millions of people using the free sub to play free games (Like Warframe, maybe, and Destiny) without spending a fucking cent. For months on end.

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Just like any platform company, they will take 30% of all microtransactions.

 

[bxsonic]

Some reasons why they would choose it over Xbox or PS

- Entry price is much cheaper, or free
- Stadia is stronger
- Online play is free
- You will eventually be able to play your games on almost any device

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The biggest appeal that I see is the savings on hardware. But I'm not sure if it's such a big deal for hardcore gamers. Hardcore gamers would likely want 4K and 60fps which at $10/mth is not going to be that much of a savings in the long run.

If this is trying to appeal to hardcore gamers who only want to save some $$ on the upfront cost of a hardware purchase, it seems like an awfully small and niche audience that they're targeting.

I'm just disappointed that Google is not able to work out a Gamepass like subscription service at launch. IMO, Stadia seems like a great service that might ultimately fail due to its business model. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong and Stadia will be successful.

 

[MaulerX]

So the pro subscription gives you roughly one free game a month. So that means that there will be months where you get zero games. That's not comparable to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold at all. You're just paying to unlock 4k60. What a joke.

 

[12Danny123]

I don't understand this whatsoever. I think you really have to be quite high on MS koolaid to think along these lines.

xCloud is also offering potential customers the opportunity to pay a sub to digitally buy games for full price and play them on a cloud server, but it's a 6 year old console "server" that was underpowered on it's launch day, and they don't have a free tier (unless you bring your own hardware, like PS4 in 2013). Exactly the same deal as Stadia, except not as good - costs money, for quite significantly worse performance.

Yes, MS also runs a game rental plan they will be almost certainly bundling / cross selling - Google is doing that with Uplay too, and I doubt it'll be the only one. If Phil Spencer is to be believed about he "doesn't care where you play the games, just that you play them", hell we may even see GamePass on Stadia soon! (I suspect not)

I guess people are just filling in Microsoft's many blanks with hopes and dreams? xCloud will be free with $1/month gamepass ultimate offers stacked for the next 3 years? They'll be ripping out all those X1S right away as soon as Scarlett Anacondas are available?

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It's been obvious from the start that XCloud won't be based on XB1S for long term. Only during beta testing.

 

[Fredrik]

Man, people are happily paying $60 / year for PSN and XBL, but Google does it and all of a sudden they're DOA. Such hyperbole.

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Yeah, and then add the console cost on top of that, and maybe an upgrade 3 years in, or a Slim.

Just as last gen when everybody complained about the price of the PS3 and boasted about how cheap the 360 was, then they kept paying for XBL... People clearly don't try adding up the costs.

 

[Fredrik]

So the pro subscription gives you roughly one free game a month. So that means that there will be months where you get zero games. That's not comparable to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold at all. You're just paying to unlock 4k60. What a joke.

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What's the Pro?
Well besides the noise it upgrades your games to "4K" for 3 years until it's time to upgrade again.
What's the monthly cost? 400/3/12=$11/month for the Pro.

X is better. 500/3/12=$13/month, noise excluded and a bad UHD player included.

 

[Dremorak]

Imagine Netflix but you have to pay for every tv show and movie you want to watch.

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YEP.
As soon as they unveiled what it actually was this was what it sounded like.

When they first talked about being able to see an ad for a game and just click play and start playing a couple of seconds later, they missed the part where you need to put in your credit card info and fork over 60 bucks.

 

[Dance Inferno]

YEP.
As soon as they unveiled what it actually was this was what it sounded like.

When they first talked about being able to see an ad for a game and just click play and start playing a couple of seconds later, they missed the part where you need to put in your credit card info and fork over 60 bucks.

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Except it's not like Netflix. You're not paying a monthly subscription for access to a library. Not sure why people insist on making this comparison when the two services are nothing alike.

You can pay $0 per month for 1080p streaming and still get better IQ than an XB1X, or pay a monthly fee for 4K60. If you don't think that's worth it so be it, but there's definitely value to be had here if you value IQ. The PS5 is going to cost what, $500? Then add the annual PS+ fee? Then add the upgrade cost for a PS5 Pro a few years later? Is that really cheaper than Stadia? Come on now.

 

[Dekuman]

This feels like google being google, trying to muscle in on a high margin segment without doing the ground work.
The reason XBL/PS+ is appealing is the underlying console/ecosystem and product is appealing.

 

[Deleted member 30395]

So the business model is like.. iTunes in 2005?

Dead
On
Arrival

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You never had to pay a subscription for iTunes so this is worse.

 

[minimalism]

I own a Switch, but I can't stand using it as a portable. The screen sucks, joy-cons are tiny and uncomfortable, performance is mediocre, wi-fi is inexplicably bad etc etc.

I don't play on public transportation or anything but I'm frequently in a hotel room. I'd much rather use an iPad with a decent screen, using a properly sized controller, and get 4K60 instead.

I linked to a site I use earlier to book hotels with good WiFi - it's a must-use tool!

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But, like, why not have a gaming laptop? An iPad isn't even 4k so you won't even be enjoying it at native resolution, plus with an actual gaming hardware you'd actually own the games 100x's more than Google would ever let you.

I guess I still cannot get over the fact that local will be better than remote 100% of the time, especially for uses like yours.

 

[Turin Turambar]

I wonder, how much would people pay to have a Netflix-style subscription?

Take in account you need to pay the hardware and the $60 games in the monthly amount.

 

[Fliep]

An argument I do not understand:
People criticising the 60$ game purchase. How are you getting your games right now? If I want to play a new Switch game or something on the Ps4 I have to pay a minimum of 50$ all the time. I also think that Google, like most other plattforms will do a sale after a few weeks/months, so you can just wait a bit if you do not want to pay the 60$.
I play mostly single player games and most of the time only once (with a few exceptions) after that I delete them from my harddrive to have more space. I do not need to own the games. I pay for the experience, not for the ownership, so I do not care if I get anything else for my money except playing the game.
Another thing is Internet connection. Most people have Internet in their home anyway, I have it right now without using stadia and I will also have it while using stadia. So I do not see that as additional cost. Gladyl I do not live in the USA so I do not need to worry about shitty connections and data cap.
I just see stadia as a service, which I can mostly use for free and just get new games at a high quality without breaking my head how I should get the money for a new graphic card and a processor.
It would be interesting to calculate if Stadia would be cheaper than a gaming PC in the long run, if you prioritzes the 4k/60fps goal on every new game release.
If you play todays games at 4k60 and want to keep it that way with games releasing in three years, I think the cost of upgrading your PC could be higher.
After all Stadia (and other streaming services) are a welcome change to the industry in my opinion.

 

[uzipukki]

Yeah, not interested anymore.

 

[fontguy]

I simply can't get over the psychological barrier of spending $60 on singleplayer games that might go poof at a moment's notice.

It sucks when some license runs out and people can't buy a game anymore (that Scott Pilgrim beat em up, for example), but it's fucking shit when a license runs out and everybody who bought the game just straight up can never play it ever again.

Seems like a really good platform for live games, though.

 

[Murdy Plops]

Anecdotally this is worth it just to continue playing Destiny 2 this year.

Presently playing on the Xbox one X. When this launches in November I'll be playing on Stadia @ 60fps for a little extra.

 

[Tmespe]

But, like, why not have a gaming laptop? An iPad isn't even 4k so you won't even be enjoying it at native resolution, plus with an actual gaming hardware you'd actually own the games 100x's more than Google would ever let you.

I guess I still cannot get over the fact that local will be better than remote 100% of the time, especially for uses like yours.

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They're crazy expensive, usually large and loud. It's not really an alternative.

 

[Fredrik]

I just see stadia as a service, which I can mostly use for free and just get new games at a high quality without breaking my head how I should get the money for a new graphic card and a processor.
It would be interesting to calculate if Stadia would be cheaper than a gaming PC in the long run, if you prioritzes the 4k/60fps goal on every new game release.
If you play todays games at 4k60 and want to keep it that way with games releasing in three years, I think the cost of upgrading your PC could be higher.

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I really like the idea of Stadia but I don't think it can compete with PC gaming in any way unless you're a casual laptop gamer. We know the specs and it's not something that sets the world on fire among PC gamers. Yes, the hardware can be stacked but I doubt it can still compete with a well built PC gaming rig.

But sure, no doubt it'll be cheaper, zero doubt. I'm on my third GPU in 6 years, each cost me around $700-$1000, lets say $2500 in total. Split that cost over 6 years and you'll get a monthly cost at 2500/6/12=$34/month. And this is just the GPU upgrades.

 

[Beer Monkey]

You can pay $0 per month for 1080p streaming and still get better IQ than an XB1X

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Doubt.

 

[minimalism]

An argument I do not understand:
People criticising the 60$ game purchase. How are you getting your games right now? If I want to play a new Switch game or something on the Ps4 I have to pay a minimum of 50$ all the time. I also think that Google, like most other plattforms will do a sale after a few weeks/months, so you can just wait a bit if you do not want to pay the 60$.
I play mostly single player games and most of the time only once (with a few exceptions) after that I delete them from my harddrive to have more space. I do not need to own the games. I pay for the experience, not for the ownership, so I do not care if I get anything else for my money except playing the game.
Another thing is Internet connection. Most people have Internet in their home anyway, I have it right now without using stadia and I will also have it while using stadia. So I do not see that as additional cost. Gladyl I do not live in the USA so I do not need to worry about shitty connections and data cap.
I just see stadia as a service, which I can mostly use for free and just get new games at a high quality without breaking my head how I should get the money for a new graphic card and a processor.
It would be interesting to calculate if Stadia would be cheaper than a gaming PC in the long run, if you prioritzes the 4k/60fps goal on every new game release.
If you play todays games at 4k60 and want to keep it that way with games releasing in three years, I think the cost of upgrading your PC could be higher.
After all Stadia (and other streaming services) are a welcome change to the industry in my opinion.

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The issue is that Stadia presents an inferior digital product. You cannot play it offline, have any control over it, or have a company that as a positive track record controlling its future. To me that's the big issue.

They're crazy expensive, usually large and loud. It's not really an alternative.

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Not really? You can get a pretty good gaming laptop for like 1k. And if you are 'gaming' at 4k, you'd just be plugging it into a TV via HDMI or DP so you wouldn't even have it near you. It's 100% a viable alternative if you look at sub costs over time versus a one time sunk cost.

 

[Dremorak]

Except it's not like Netflix. You're not paying a monthly subscription for access to a library. Not sure why people insist on making this comparison when the two services are nothing alike.

You can pay $0 per month for 1080p streaming and still get better IQ than an XB1X, or pay a monthly fee for 4K60. If you don't think that's worth it so be it, but there's definitely value to be had here if you value IQ. The PS5 is going to cost what, $500? Then add the annual PS+ fee? Then add the upgrade cost for a PS5 Pro a few years later? Is that really cheaper than Stadia? Come on now.

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Why would you stream your games if you value IQ? If anything goes wrong with your connection then your IQ drops. Or even worse you lose inputs. If you are already going to have a next gen console for first party games, then why not just buy the games there? It honestly makes zero sense.

 

[@dedmunk]

[PRETENDS TO BE SHOCKED]

How is this news on an enthusiast forum at this point?

 

[Aztorian]

Acievements!

 

[mrglcs]

[PRETENDS TO BE SHOCKED]

How is this news on an enthusiast forum at this point?

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True, this has been known for quite a while AFAIK?!

Btw, how is xCloud going to work? Is it basically just Game Pass with the ability to stream all the content to every supported device? If so, how the hell is Stadia supposed to compete with that? I don't see any value in Stadia then.

 

[Fliep]

I really like the idea of Stadia but I don't think it can compete with PC gaming in any way unless you're a casual laptop gamer. We know the specs and it's not something that sets the world on fire among PC gamers. Yes, the hardware can be stacked but I doubt it can still compete with a well built PC gaming rig.

But sure, no doubt it'll be cheaper, zero doubt. I'm on my third GPU in 6 years, each cost me around $700-$1000, lets say $2500 in total. Split that cost over 6 years and you'll get a monthly cost at 2500/6/12=$34/month. And this is just the GPU upgrades.

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I hope that the IQ of streamed games will get better over time. Of course most hardcore Pc-gamer will not switch to stadia, because some of the fun is in upgrading your rig, anticipation of new graphic cards and processors etc. I would be satisfied if I can just play the newest stuff on very high settings at 1080/60 right now.
I guess the cost for the 4k/60 stadia service could be compensated alone by the energy cost of your gaming pc. If I use my PC around 4h a day and play games 2h of them, I would already pay around 120$ on energy cost per year (depending on setup of course)

 

[Fredrik]

I simply can't get over the psychological barrier of spending $60 on singleplayer games that might go poof at a moment's notice.

It sucks when some license runs out and people can't buy a game anymore (that Scott Pilgrim beat em up, for example), but it's fucking shit when a license runs out and everybody who bought the game just straight up can never play it ever again.

Seems like a really good platform for live games, though.

Click to shrink...

Don't you ever buy games digitally?
Stadia really isn't much different from any other digital platform in that regard. What if Valve decides it's not worth the effort to wrestle with Epic for exclusives and Gabe just say lets retire and close Steam?
*poof*
Your games would be lost unless you happen to have them all downloaded, which is unlikely.
We already know individual games can just vanish from digital stores for as simple reason as music licenses expiring. Really, nothing is safe unless you go 100% physical. But then the physical media can break instead, or your hardware to run it. I have 3 C64s and 2 Amigas and a floppy ripper for a reason.

 

[Fredrik]

True, this has been known for quite a while AFAIK?!

Btw, how is xCloud going to work? Is it basically just Game Pass with the ability to stream all the content to every supported device? If so, how the hell is Stadia supposed to compete with that? I don't see any value in Stadia then.

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Game Pass isn't included in xCloud, that'll be another subscription, and there is no free xCloud version, you'll have to pay for 900p streaming, no pricing has been announced yet.

 

[Fliep]

The issue is that Stadia presents an inferior digital product. You cannot play it offline, have any control over it, or have a company that as a positive track record controlling its future. To me that's the big issue.

Not really? You can get a pretty good gaming laptop for like 1k. And if you are 'gaming' at 4k, you'd just be plugging it into a TV via HDMI or DP so you wouldn't even have it near you. It's 100% a viable alternative if you look at sub costs over time versus a one time sunk cost.

Click to shrink...

As I play at home and have a stable and fast internet connection I do not personally care that I can not use the service offline. I do not game on the go or in other places, so for me this restriction is irrelevant.
You have a point that I can not control what happens with my games in the future. But to be honest, If I have a game lying around on my harddrive for years (I do not think Google will delete them two month after release) I may not be playing that game anyway. As I said: I buy a game, play it and after that I delete it. In regard to gaming I do not care about ownership and I do not care what happens to my library years down the line.