Stadia is still here, still getting bonus games, and someday it might be really cool, but nothing today Stadia Connect event It made it seem like the platform has turned around as it struggles to establish a new ecosystem for gaming.
The most exciting game (at least for me) announced during today’s event was Super Bomberman R online, a continuation of the 2017 game, this time with a new 64-player Battle Royale mode. It’s just a timed exclusive, while many of the other games mentioned during the presentation have already been out for a while on other platforms, like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Google didn’t have much to say about how Stadia features like public gaming and state involvement are popping up, or why they seem to be available only for some games right now. And there was no news of any kind of new pricing model that could make buying older games at high prices, games that will remain locked behind your Stadia user account, more attractive. If Google is patiently playing some kind of long game here, it’s really, Really long game
This is what Google announced.
Orcs must die! 3 Now available and free with Stadia Pro.
The third game in Robot Entertainment’s tower defense series is part of a small but growing list of exclusive Stadia timers. You can play it right now (if you are willing to buy it at Stadia or pay for a Pro membership).
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And so is the musical puzzle game Clapping with one hand.
Currently in Stadia in early access as part of an exclusive time, the 2D platform game makes you sing into a microphone to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles.
Splash Damage is doing an online shooting game for Stadia called Outcasters.
Outcasters It looks like a light and whimsical multiplayer shooting game of custom cosmetics that you can find in a game room. It’s top-down and much cuter than anything Splash Damage is traditionally known for (like his work on the Gears Serie). (Update – 2:01 pm, 7/14/20: It seems that OutcastersLike all games shown today, it’s just a timed exclusive and will eventually hit other platforms as well.)
Bomberman you are getting a battle royale game.
Super Bomberman R online will be built from 2017 Super Bomberman R, which was good but not great, with a new 64-player Battle Royale mode, more customization options and additional characters. It will also hit Stadia first sometime this fall.
Three other developers have Stadia games in progress.
Harmonix (Rock band), Uppercut Games (Brass city) and supermassive games (Until sunrise) are working with the Stadia Games development team to create exclusives for the streaming platform.
Some other old and new games will continue to appear on the platform in the coming months:
- PGA Tour 2K21 (August 21)
- Serious sam 4 (August)
- Hitman 1 (September 1)
- Hitman 2 (September 1)
- WWE 2K Battlegrounds (September 18)
- Dead in the daylight (September)
- NBA 2K21 (Fall 2020)
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Fall 2020)
- Outriders (Holidays 2020)
- Hello neighbor (September 20)
- Hello neighbor: Hide & Seek (Holidays 2020)
- Hitman 3 (January 2021)
And that’s it.
Today’s Connect presentation was a long way from Google’s adjacent E3 storefront last year, which went into detail on how the platform would work and the company’s future plans for it. We didn’t get much new information this year about things like save share status that have the potential to make Stadia a unique platform to play. As we get closer to the service’s first anniversary, many of those features are still missing, and its game library still feels incredibly light, especially compared to things like Game Pass and PlayStation Now.
As someone who regularly uses Stadia to play games like Destiny 2Nothing that Google showed today made me feel more confident about buying Stadia games and investing more in its ecosystem.
Fix: Clapping with one hand isn’t free with Stadia Pro.
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