Google’s video game streaming service, Stadia, will launch for early access customers from Nov 19, with Red Dead Redemption 2 and Mortal Kombat 11 among day-one titles.
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When does Google Stadia launch? Officially announced in March this year after years of rumour and testing, it was scheduled to land in November.
Now, during the Made by Google ’19 presentation, Google has set out a Nov 19 date for the service to launch.
There’s even a time of day: it’s due to get going from 9am PST (1am on Nov 20 in Malaysia).
Stadia is due to launch in 14 North American and European countries: Canada and the United States of America, and Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Britain.
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However, although a free tier is planned for 2020, it’s only available at launch for those that have purchased a US$129 (RM541) Founders Pack, unveiled in June this year, or the near-identical Premiere Pack that replaced it three months later in September.
Those packs, which both include a WiFi Stadia gamepad controller, Chromecast Ultra dongle, and three months of Stadia Pro subscription, are being mailed out with the intention of arriving for Nov 19.
The Founders Pack contains a limited edition colour controller and a spare three-month subscription for a friend.
Stadia Pro is expected to cost US$9.99 (RM41.90) or thereabouts, a subscription price that includes access to around one free game a month: Destiny 2: The Collection will be that free game at launch.
That puts it closer to Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus (US$9.99 per month, online gaming, two free games a month) than cloud gaming PlayStation 4 and PC service PlayStation Now (US$9.99 per month, whole games library), Xbox’s downloadable Xbox Game Pass (US$9.99 per month, US$14.99 (RM62.87) with Xbox Live Gold, whole library, Xbox Studios games at launch) or the US$4.99 (RM20.93) Apple Arcade for iOS, iPad, tvOS and MacOS hardware. –The Star