Google’s cloud gaming service should not be compared with Netflix,” the authors of Stadia say. On the contrary, it is closer in functionality to traditional console services — Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus.
Yesterday, a question-and—answer session was held on Reddit with Andrey Doronichev, who heads the product managers team responsible for the user functionality of the service at Stadia (by the way, Andrey is a remarkable figure, he previously assembled a team and led the development of YouTube Mobile, and was also responsible for launching the Cardboard project, here is an interesting interview with him about work in the States).
During the session, a curious detail about the platform came to light. As it turned out, premium subscribers of Stadia will not have access to a large shareware library. Games will still have to be bought.
“Let’s be honest, Stadia Pro [Premium subscription of the service, will cost $9.99. — Ed.] is not a gaming Netflix, as some people claim. A more accurate comparison is Xbox Live Gold or Playstation Plus. Stadia Pro subscribers will receive a 4K/HDR image, 5.1 audio, exclusive discounts and access to some free games. Approximately one game every month. Destiny 2 will be such a free game at the start,” Andrey explained.
As part of the free Base tariff, games will not be distributed at all (although the appearance of free-play titles in the future is not excluded). All projects will need to be purchased in order to play. The prices for the games will be correlated with the prices on other platforms. As Andrey notes, “Whatever one may say, this is a story about developers getting money for the amazing work they do.”
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