Google took to the internet today to deliver the first Stadia Connect of 2020, in which they unveiled a lot of new games coming to the service, as well as some other things that gamers might be interested in if they want to try out the game streaming service for themselves.
For example, it was announced that users can enjoy an additional two months of Stadia Pro for free as of right now (with existing users receiving an additional 2 months membership for free automatically).
It was also announced that in the coming months Stadia users can expect to see five EA games joining the service for the first time. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order will be available to play from the Fall, with the immensely popular FIFA and Madden not far behind.
Whilst the additional two EA games weren’t announced, it will certainly be interesting to see if they have already launched EA titles or brand new games.
Doom Eternal was announced as playable on Google Stadia right now – whilst it isn’t part of the Stadia Pro package, Stadia users can still buy the game to stream over all their devices within the Stadia store.
Octopath Traveller was also announced as available from today on the Stadia Store, with the fan-favorite JRPG previously only being available to play on the Nintendo Switch or on PC itself. Now, gamers will be able to stream Octopath Traveller to their devices however they choose via the Stadia store.
Rock of Ages 3 is also coming to the Stadia store soon, and three new games were announced as joining the Stadia Pro line up of free games for Pro subscribers: Zombie Army 4, The Turing Test and Steamworks Heist, which will all be able to gamers to stream and play from May. Stadia users will also be able to buy an additional Zombie Army 4 campaign add on from the Stadia store, titled Blood Count, if they so choose.
Gryeta was also announced as coming to Stadia, with Stadia being the first platform it would become available on. The game allows players to work together to build their own worlds and games, and then share them with the larger community. Complete with Fortnite like graphics, the game will be launching in the Summer on Stadia Pro.
Wavebreak is another Stadia first game, with players riding in boats that are capable of pulling off Tony Hawk style gameplay in a colorful, cartoon world. Launching in Summer 2020, Wavebreak will also feature a full single-player campaign and player customization.
Embr, a multiplayer firefighter game was also revealed to be coming to Stadia, in which teams of players work together to save people trapped in various situations. More cartoony fun, the game will be launching on the 21st of May and looks to focus on multiplayer rather than anything else, playing into Google Stadia’s longstanding desire to get more players using their platform as they would a console or a PC alongside their friends.
Another multiplayer focussed, first on Stadia game titled Get Packed was shown, which looks to be in the vein of parts games like Overcooked or Mario Party. It is actually out right now for Stadia, so if you are on the lookout for a less serious game to enjoy and test out the Stadia multiplayer features, then go check it out!
Finally, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds was revealed as being available on Stadia Pro right now. Stadia users can jump into the game with no downloads or updates needed, and even play with their non-Stadia using friends thanks to cross-play being enabled. Whether or not the cross-play will lead to Stadia players being at a disadvantage to input lag remains to be seen, but it’s a big announcement in terms of community-loved games coming to the Stadia.
The Stadia Connect also featured a video segment, that had players from within the Stadia community praising and enforcing the idea that Stadia is a seamless and easy to use platform to game on, with the taglines ‘no loading screens, updates or downloads’ seeming to be the key mantra for those involved.
Whether or not this was Google’s way of addressing the negativity it has received in the past over the stability and reliability of its platform is unknown, but it seems that as a brand Stadia want to be associated with easy to access instant gameplay.
And that pretty much sums up the Stadia Connect. They did trail off with a hint about Orcs must Die 3 coming to Stadia, but we will have wait until the Summer Stadia Connect to find out more details.
What are you thinking of the Google Stadia experience so far? Worth the money to join the Pro version or not a fantastic platform as of yet? Let us know in the comments!