Google Stadia Pricing Leaks And Boy Is It Confusing
Later today – in just about an hour from the time of this writing, in fact – Google is set to reveal new details about Stadia, its upcoming game streaming service. Google has been teasing some big details for today's event, particularly new information about launch and pricing. Before Google has the chance to reveal that stuff, pricing for Stadia has leaked out, and the model Google has worked out is definitely a little on the confusing side.
Apparently, Stadia will be a service that both carries a subscription fee and charges for individual games. Stadia is said to offer a monthly subscription that runs CAD $11.99 per month (USD $8.96 per month), granting access to some of Stadia's library and makes those games playable at 4K/60fps.
Not bad, but notice that we said "some of Stadia's library" and not all of it. Newer games will need to be purchased separately – there's no word on what those games will cost, but it seems safe to assume that publishers will charge $60 for new games just as they do through other digital storefronts. Canadian paper La Presse published this information early after seemingly being pre-briefed by Google, and though that article has since been taken down, Kotaku managed to get the important points up before that happened.
At some point next year, we'll apparently see Google roll out a subscription plan called "Stadia Base," which will be free to sign up for but will limit resolution to 1080p. Closer to launch, Google will also bundle a Stadia controller, a Chromecast Ultra, and a copy of Destiny 2 into a package called the Stadia Founder's Edition that runs CAD $169 (USD $126).
We also learned new details about Stadia's launch lineup, which is said to include Doom, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, The Division 2, and the aforementioned Destiny 2. Finally, minimum speed requirements to use Stadia will be 10mbps down/1mbps up, though that likely limits you to 1080p/30fps streaming (or even lower).
As always, take unconfirmed rumors with a grain of salt, because nothing is official until Google gets up on stage and announces it. Thankfully, we don't have long to wait before we find out what's accurate and what isn't, because Google is set to host its Stadia event today at 9:00am Pacific – just about an hour from now. We'll be covering that event as it happens, so keep it here at SlashGear for more.