You might want to sit down for this one.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Google has revealed the official pricing for the first batch of games that they are making available for the console's November 19th launch. What's interesting about this reveal is that it doesn't actually include prices for every launch game. Keep in mind that Google just recently added 10 additional titles, bringing their total to 22. The prices revealed in the list below seem to be only for those 12 initial games.

From the looks of things, the Stadia launch prices are about as much as you would find them on consoles like the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

Stadia Launch Games Pricing
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey - $59.99 $30.00 Stadia Pro Deal
  • Gylt - $29.99
  • Just Dance 2020 - $49.99
  • Kine - $19.99
  • Mortal Kombat 11 - $59.99 $41.99 Stadia Pro Deal
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 - Launch Edition - $59.99
  • Samurai Showdown - $59.99
  • Thumper - $19.99
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider - $59.99
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider - $29.99
  • Tomb Raider 2013 - $19.99 $10.00 Stadia Pro Deal
  • Final Fantasy XV - $39.99 $29.99 Stadia Pro Deal
Special Editions:
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey Stadia Ultimate Edition - $119.99 - $60.00 Stadia Pro Deal
  • Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Edition - $89.99 $62.99 Stadia Pro Deal
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 Special Edition - $79.99
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 Ultimate Edition - $99.99
This list, courtesy of Android Police, seems like a mixed bag. On one hand, it makes a lot of sense for something like Red Dead Redemption 2 to retail for $59.99 on Stadia. It's still a fairly new game. Even Mortal Kombat 11 has a decent discount going for it since it's been out now since at least April of this year on other platforms.

Where these prices start to get a bit questionable though is when you take a look at something like Assassin's Creed Odyssey for $59.99. If you pay the $10 per month to become a "Stadia Pro" user, you are able to get Assassin's Creed Odyssey for $30. I mean, that's sort of ok, right? Well, you can currently get a new, physical copy of Odyssey for just $25 at Amazon, without spending an extra $10 on a subscription. On PC, it has gone for as low as $20 on Uplay for over the span of a month. Odyssey is also literally over a year old at this point (out October 5, 2018).

There just really doesn't seem like there is much of an incentive for current console owners or even PC owners to jump ship to Stadia right now. In a lot of cases it even makes an argument against Stadia since you can get physical copies of many of these games for as much, or less, than a digital copy on a still unproven platform. Undoubtedly, the publishers of these games hold a wealth of blame on setting these prices.

The real pull will come in 2020 when the free version of Stadia is made available to the public. Having to just pay for the price of just the game is actually far more appealing when compared to buying a game + $130 Founder's Edition + $10 optional Stadia Pro subscription. The problem is that first impressions are everything and so far Stadia's first impressions are not great.