The latest Stadia Connect has revealed a host of new games coming to Google’s streaming service, including GRID and Elder Scrolls Online.
It’s strange to think that by the end of this year both Microsoft and Google should have their rival game streaming services up and running and yet so far we’ve still heard very little about either.
Microsoft didn’t even mention Project xCloud in their pre-Gamescom Inside Xbox event but while it’s likely to only get as far as public testing in 2019, Stadia is planning to launch properly – at least in terms of the subscription-based version of the service.
This time round Google made it very clear that Stadia is not the Netflix of gaming, but instead a streaming service where you have to buy each game individually.
The version of Stadia without a subscription will come later but at the moment they’re pushing the Founder’s Pack that contains a controller, the means to connect to a TV, and three-month’s subscription.
That’ll set you back £119, but up until now it’s not really been clear what games will be available at or near launch.
But thanks to this latest Stadia Connect we now know that Cyberpunk 2077 will be coming to Stadia ‘soon’ (the release date for the other versions is 16 April, but that wasn’t mentioned).
No additional information was revealed about the game or the Stadia version, and indeed almost all the gameplay clips were from older multiformat trailers – implying that none of the footage was actually running on Stadia.
For the record though the other games mentioned were as follows, plus Baldur’s Gate III which was only glimpsed in passing:
- Watch Dogs Legion
- Gods And Monsters (Ubisoft’s more fantastical take on Greek myth)
- Kine (a weird 3D puzzle game)
- Windjammers 2
- Destroy All Humans! (the remake, obviously)
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Superhot
- Farm Simulator 19 Platinum Edition
- Samurai Shodown
- GRID (Codemasters’ new racer)
- Attack On Titan 2: Final Battle
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr (Stadia’s first MMO)
- Borderlands 3 (which had technically already been announced)
- Doom Eternal (ditto)
All of these games are multiformat and the only one that’s not is Orcs Must Die! 3, which Stadia is keeping all to themselves. The Tower Defense-influenced third person co-op game is hardly one of gaming’s biggest names but at least it’s a start, in addition to previously announced exclusive Gylt by RiME developer Tequila Works.
The rest of the line-up is a mix of major and minor titles, but Cyberpunk, Watch Dogs, and Borderlands 3 are certainly important gains and will help to imply that in the future all major games will come to Stadia.
It’s notable that there was nothing said about Fortnite though, or other free-to-play titles like Apex Legends, so clearly there’s still a lot of work for Google to do.
There’s also the fact that the actual Stadia Connect was pretty boring to sit through, with canned footage from trailers you’ve probably already seen multiple times before.
Google still need to up their game if they’re going to be a serious contender but this was an important, if small, step in that direction.
Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter
