Google Stadia Premiere Edition - White

Product Information

Story updated to reflect that the Premiere Edition will cost €129.00 in Europe, not €69.00 – which is the price of a standalone Stadia controller.

Both the signup and streaming service are activated through the Google Stadia app on Android and iOS. Once you’re logged in, you can then either Cast a game from the app to your Chromecast Ultra that comes with either of the two editions or go to Stadia.com to start streaming to your PC. Keep in mind that if you do not want the Stadia Pro subscription after the month ends, you'll need to cancel, so set a reminder in your phone! Stadia Base will also launch in 2020, which allows users to use Google’s streaming platform for free, but the resolution will be capped at Full HD at 60fps. You’ll also be limited to stereo sound instead of surround sound. There will be no monthly free game with this subscription. In the future, it should let you pull up videos while you're gaming, so you can watch a walkthrough guide on how to complete a certain part without even leaving the game. Neat.Since launch, Google added over 100 new titles to the library. What that tells us is that Google has the power and budget to drop a whole bunch of new games in the same way that Microsoft does with Xbox Game Pass but, also like Game Pass, the well of content will always be limited when compared to other services like Steam that are much less of a walled garden and are entirely more community-driven. Stepping down from a hardwired connection to a dual-band 5GHz connection, Stadia still held up immensely well with only small issues in the audio impairing an otherwise flawless performance.

While Google plans for Stadia to work on any Android smartphone in the future, the app will only be available for select handsets at launch. Cloud gaming, or streaming games without the need for physical copies, renders games on a remote server instead of your local device. That game is then streamed to your device while your input on the controller (or mouse and keyboard) is sent to the server.You can use touch controls on an tablet or mobile phone. At one time, you could only access Stadia through a Stadia Pro subscription, but that requirement has since been lifted. You're now allowed to use Stadia for free. In fact we even saw free demos periodically that you can try at no cost. It also appears to be a no-strings-type situation with the only catch being the need to sign up for a month of Stadia Pro, but there’s a one-month free trial available to those users anyway. Google Stadia is set to launch this November but a solid date is yet to be confirmed. When pressed, a Google rep told me that it would be ready to "share a specific date soon" and that we will "have to wait to see why" we haven't received that information already. Google also confirmed that the Stadia Premiere Edition will ship shortly after the Founders Edition bundle – giving Founders the opportunity to secure their Stadia Name – and that the Premiere Edition bundle will be the "the new version of Stadia that we're going to have for the foreseeable future".On a 150Mbps hard-wired connection, Stadia is amazing - it’s like playing a game stored locally on your PC.

For our last test, we tried Stadia on a new Wi-Fi network that, according to an Ookla speed test, maxed out around 15Mbps. Going into this test we expected the worst - that Stadia would basically be unplayable. Thankfully we were wrong. The Premiere Edition replaced the Founder's Edition on the Google Store, after the latter sold out. The Founder's Edition bundle included a Chromecast Ultra, a limited-edition Night Blue Stadia Controller, a three-month Stadia Pro subscription, and a buddy pass that let you gift three months of Stadia Pro to a friend. There are plenty of titles available on Google Stadia, spanning a range of genres. These include shoot 'em-ups like Red Dead Redemption 2, Superhot and Doom Eternal, sports sims like NBA 2K20 and MotoGP 20, and beat 'em-ups like Mortal Combat 11 and RPGs like Octopath Traveler.Unsurprisingly for a service that's closed down, Google Stadia hardware sales have been suspended. You also can't buy games, new controllers (without going second-hand) or a Stadia Pro subscription, either. The Controller also features a dedicated Google Stadia button which can share a live stream of your gaming experience straight to YouTube.