Google held their first ever Stadia Connect today in which they revealed some of the first concrete details about their new game streaming service. Stadia is set to let you stream games to any devices that can connect to a Chrome browser or through any device that supports a Chromecast. All of the heavy lifting is done at Google, meaning you do not need a high-end rig to play the latest and greatest. As it turns out, everything mentioned in the pre-Connect leak were true. The only minor differences concern small adjustments to the prices that were leaked as they were in CAD instead of USD.
Google announced that there will be a $10/month service called Stadium Pro. This will give players access to streaming games at 4K resolution at 60fps with HDR and 5.1 surround sound. This price doesn't include all of the games. New games will be purchased separately.
You could alternatively pay $129 to get the Stadia Founder's Edition. It includes 3 months of Stadia Pro, Founder's badge, Buddy Pass, and the first go at getting the Stadia Name you want. It comes with the entirety of Destiny 2, including the just announced Shadowkeep expansion. It also comes with a Night Blue Stadia Controller, a Chromecast Ultra. This is also the only way to play Stadia in 2019.
At minimum, you will need a 10Mbps connection to stream games at 720p/60fps/stereo sound. If you want 4K/60fps/HDR/5.1 surround, you will need closer to 35Mbps. 1080p/60fps/5.1 surround is a bit easier for consumers, needing roughly 20-25Mbps for a connection.
As it stands, there is only one user allowed per Stadia account. It's tied to your Google ID. You can have a guest for split-screen gameplay. Google also notes that family sharing is in the works but won't be available for launch.
If you aren't ready to put down $129 for a Founder's Edition, you may have to wait until some time in 2020 to try out Stadia for yourself. Google says that it will be a slow rollout. It will be interesting to see if this approach works out for Google. A slow rollout sounds like a surefire way to have people quickly lose interest, but we'll see.
Some of the games announced for Stadia include Baldur's Gate 3, Ghost Recon: Breakout, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Thumper, The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XV, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Gylt, and more. As far as we know, Baldur's Gate 3 is also coming out for PC as well. A current list of the confirmed titles can be seen below.
Also, if you're in Hawaii or Guam, Stadia is not available in your areas.
