Pioneer in a trend that promises to reshape the games industry, Google has launched this Tuesday, 19, its own game streaming platform, Stadia. Now available in the US, Canada, and other 12 European countries, Stadia is being called the “Netflix for games”, since it works on the cloud and doesn’t require a hard copy or console to run.
“The technology is possible, but it requires a company like Google to really make it a reality,” said Phil Harrison, Google Stadia head, to CNN Business. Although the technology enabling games on the cloud exist for a few years, any company willing to implement had a series of hurdles to tackle, such as needing an above the average internet connectivity and latency issues. With Stadia, Google is the first player trying to solve these issues in order to prove the service is possible.
Thus far, users wanting to subscribe to the new platform will have to opt for a Premiere Edition costing $129.99, which includes a Stadia controller, a Chromecast dongle, three months of subscription and a free pass for the same period for a friend. Right in the release day, this subscription was already sold out in the US market.
The big tech is also planning to launch a subscription called Stadia Pro, a streaming service with a library of games the user would be able to buy, and also the free plan Stadia Base, set to launch in 2020, in which the user could buy any game without having to pay a monthly subscription, but the graphics will have a lower quality than the Pro.