There are already concerns when it comes to game ownership. Largely, they stem from the fact that we don’t own the games we buy. Instead we’re just buying a licence to play them. For most consumers though, it’s a moot point. We buy games, and we can play them, and in the case of single player ones, we can even do that if the internet goes down.
The future is changing that, and it’s becoming increasingly likely that we’ll beam games through the internet. Microsoft’s xCloud, PlayStation now and Google’s Stadia are all preparing for a future where consumers don’t need expensive hardware to play games – they just need fast, reliable internet connections and proximity to datacentres. Some consumers might’ve expected that buying games on Google’s platform might work out a little bit cheaper, given that there are no files to download or anything resembling physical media. It’s a little more like permanent-renting. They’d be wrong.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Google’s Phil Harrison said there’s extra value to be had in being able to play games on any screen.
“I don’t know why it would be cheaper,” Harrison told the outlet. “The value you get from the game on Stadia means you can play it on any screen in your life,” he said. “I think that is going to be valuable to players… In theory, the Stadia version of a game is going to be at the highest possible quality of innovation and sophistication on the game engine side.”
Many expected that Stadia would operate on a Netflix-like subscription model, but it will instead offer a library of games as part of its subscription, and then also have full-priced games available.
“We’re definitely in a great moment of transition and inflection in the industry, going from an ownership consumption model,” Harrison told Eurogamer when poked on the difference between Netflix and Stadia – which requires a subscription and then asks consumers to pay for new games.
And I think that’s where Stadia might fall. I don’t think the market is
Conversely, I think it’s Microsoft’s Game Pass that’ll give the company the edge in the impending game streaming wars. They’ve already said that Game Pass subscribers can stream their subscription games from other devices thanks to
Last Updated: June 28, 2019
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 28, 2019 at 08:36
I look forward to the rest of these
https://media.giphy.com/media/WNwjLCfsC6waiXhR5s/giphy.gif
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 08:54
The entire reason WHY Netflix (and similar streaming services) are so successful is that it’s significantly cheaper than buying a fucking DVD or BluRay. You have access to a ton of content for a much reduced price. That’s the value proposition. You pay a bit extra for HD/4K streaming, but with those (at least on Netflix) you can share your details with your family, so hey. 2 for the price of one and a bit. And HD. Or 4 for the price of 2, AND 4K.
Google are smoking some serious shit. I want their dealer’s number.
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 08:54
Is that really a fair comparison though? Netflix is popular because cable/satelite suck, not because DVDs are expensive.
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 09:03
Well, that’s a fair discussion point. But here’s the thing – currently there are a few services like this. EA Origin Premiere is R200 a month, you have access to their FULL library as long as you’re subscribed. End of story. Those R1k games? Yeah, download, have at it. And that’s a bit on the expensive side for a sub in EA’s case, but if their library was 2-3 times the size and had stuff from other publishers? That’s pretty decent value, if a touch expensive.
Now, imagine that instead of Origin basic + premiere options, they have basic + pay full price to play their new games? No Premiere. Their basic offering is SHIT. But that’s what Google want to do here. Have a sub to play a shitty library, pay full price to play the good stuff. Why would you not simply just buy on Steam on sale like we already do? Or get these same games in a Humble Bundle? And guess what, you don’t need to stay subbed to have access to those games either.
Do I think the value of playing any game on whatever system I own is worth that? No, no I don’t. The entire point of this is to save money on buying a gaming PC, but this would only see real value if you’re always buying top-end machines every 3-4 years, and if you can afford that, why the fuck would you waste your money on this sub thing when you can just buy what you want to play?
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 09:13
Hold up. “Sub for games” is not what Stadia is standing for, that’s just a by-product that we all assumed would work a certain way. We thought we were getting “sub for games + gaming experience” but now we are getting “sub for some games + gaming experience, pay for other games” which makes complete sense. Minus the gaming experience, that model has worked in the gaming space and even in the media space for many years.
I’m kind of offended because I’m subbed to Origin basic. 🙁 It’s not bad value and the turnaround on games is great, we have Battlefield 5 already!
But we agree though that entire point of Stadia is saving money on expensive hardware. Not games. So I don’t understand why exactly you are calling google out for selling full priced games.
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 09:39
Because there’s no real saving over time vs just buying the hardware and the games you want on sale. A good mainstream gaming PC costs around R14k. That’s essentially 14 – 18 games. With that mainstream PC you can get 4 years of use. Now, in those 4 years, are you only going to buy an average of 16 games? Let’s say you wait for a 50% sale on each of those, so you’d need to buy 32 games in 4 years to offset that pc cost. That’s less than a game a month at a 50% discount. But you get to choose the games you buy, you’re not restricted to whatever the service tells you you can play. One of Origin’s biggest issues that kills the value is that I don’t have access to many of the games I’d rather be playing. Now instead of spending my money on that sub, I can put that money towards buying the games I’d rather be playing, and not having superficial access to a massive library of shit I’ll never play.
The thing is – with Netflix I watch maybe 10% of what’s on offer, but what I watch and what my sister watches are completely different. But I’m paying R120 a month for both of us to have access to the content we want at any time. That means for each person, that’s R720 per year for unlimited access to what’s available. That’s less than ONE game for ONE person these days. The difference is, currently, when you drop that cash, you’ll have access to it as long as that platform (Steam, Epic, etc.) is still in business. You don’t have to keep paying a nominal fee to access it in 2 – 3 years time when you want a new playthrough. You also don’t get to be frugal and wait for a good sale, get that same game a year later at a massive discount.
Basically, by subbing to this you’re limiting your options and not really saving money, all for the illusion of “access” and “choice”. And Google aren’t selling full priced games, they’re selling the right to stream them for as long as you’re subbed to Stadia. What happens when you’ve stopped subbing to Stadia? What happens to your right to access those full priced games? *poof*
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 09:39
Holy shit I’m tl;dr today. Sorry @InsaneDane:disqus XD
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 10:56
All good in the hood, I could do with some reading/debating. Currently SUPER bored at work.
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 10:56
I suppose there is an array of different ways this can impact people financially, depending on their income and to what degree they play games. For some it can be cheaper and work out as a much better gaming experience than hey currently have, for some it may be more expensive in the long run with an inadequate experience.
As Elder Hammer and Grunt Guz point out, there is no established model for a service like this and we never knew what to expect in the first place. There are so many things to consider including:
– The price of the subscriptions
– The variety of games
– Turnaround on full-price to subscription inclusion
– Savings on hardware
– The fact that the games will be running at maximum settings (maybe even better than anything you could setup at home for hunneds’ of Ks at the time)
– The fact that you can only play “bought” games as long as you pay for the streaming service
– The fact that you have to further rely on your internet connection for every aspect of your experience
I still don’t think you can compare it to a streaming service like Netflix and assume that it should work in the same way. Netflix can’t offer you every piece of cinematic media, so if you want to watch something like World Tour (which you do because we all do) then you have to go out and spend more money anyway. With Stadia you will probably have access to 95%+ of all relevant games and therefore not have to spend money anywhere else (which would now be compensated for by the fact that you have to pay for new games). You also don’t get the same value out of media, a movie will entertain you for 2 hours and has far less watchability as the playability games generally do, especially with multiplayer games that we put thousands of hours into each. Even Origin premiere is way more expensive than what Stadia is rumoured to be, without the benefit of being able to stream high quality games, which is the whole purpose of Stadia.
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 11:13
Yeah that’s all fair. My main question remains though – where’s the value proposition? What difference does it make to people like us who have gaming rigs? Not top of the line, just regular mainstream rigs. Top of the line obviously won’t give a shit about this, and I seriously doubt most people with basic PCs care enough about the “high quality” of it. I see this being an easy to access thing more than anything else. Ease of access is great, but you’re 100% correct in that we don’t know the range on offer, the actual cost, and so on. I just worry that the savings on hardware are not going to affect us mainstream folks – especially when the regular games aren’t going to be cheaper. It just doesn’t add up. If we had to pay Premiere prices for full access, but with a vast library, I’d be 100% down, but not when you’d still have to fork out full price for the games. Like, what makes that any different from just buying a game on Steam or Epic? The access is the ONLY thing. But we’re all likely going to have our rigs anyway. So what’s the point?
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 11:38
Personally I never liked the idea from the start. I was looking at previous articles CH posted since early last year and on all of them I posted points on why I would never use the service. Ironically, I found some comments of yours that were pro-game-streaming. 😛 I think you were on a high about your new fiber line.
One thing I brought up is that things change in technology, and this is a starting point that has to exist. One day at some point in the future, latency will be reduced to negligible amounts, from server to screen and back to server. One day the whole process will be less than 1ms. At that point in time will it still make sense to NOT use Stadia? Well that brings me to another point I brought up. No, but also yes. It already shows in the fact that we still have such elaborate setups when we could get the equivalent experience out of less flashy and less expensive equipment. I like my big box of power consuming noise and heat. I want my own damn uPlay problems with my own damn bookcase full of outdated games. And it’s not just me.
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 11:45
Heh, I still am pro-game-streaming. But not when there’s a sub PLUS paying the full price for access to a game. If I pay full price, then I may as well just use Steam and wait for one of their major sales, which happen 3-4 times a year. Also my fibre line is still great, but the issue with game streaming from a technological point is the servers, always has been. Input lag is a big no, so even while I’m taking part in this discussion, the reality is that in SA we’ll likely only get a viable streaming service years down the line when they’ve ironed out the teething issues.
Plus, yes. I like my big box of power-consuming noise too. You are not alone.
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 11:45
Yeah that kind of infrastructure is way, waaaaaaay in the future for countries like SA. Even if you had the best of the best in SA right now you would be shaking in your boots thinking that your whole gaming experience depends on so many things outside of your control.
Also one thing we are forgetting is the entry requirement. I’m now wondering if they are hyping this up now before the new generation of consoles release. It will be significantly cheaper to pay for this and still pay full price for a couple of games than to buy a new console and those same games. Most “gamers” (roll my eyes and get back on my high horse with great difficulty due to sheer size of head) are on console afterall.
Guz
June 28, 2019 at 09:21
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/48c7ef68de3e1e4849657b61b74f4261aa0a6e738cacf52f1c1bd321ef08910d.jpg
G8crasha
June 28, 2019 at 09:57
True this!
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 08:54
It seems so backwards but it actually makes sense. I don’t know how to feel. Not that I was ever going to use the service. I love my expensive hardware.
Original Heretic
June 28, 2019 at 08:54
Oh, so you mean Google likes money. Go figure.
Kenn Gibson
June 28, 2019 at 09:04
Well that defeats the entire point of Stadia.
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 09:13
In your opinion, what is the point of Stadia?
Guz
June 28, 2019 at 09:21
No thank you, I will pass on this
Yahtzee
June 28, 2019 at 09:30
It does not have RGB. And that’s a deal breaker for me.
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 11:13
NOW ON SALE
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c56614e17573ba542df2e559b29c83574362ec5f98d773c245ffac51a57f5e40.jpg
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 11:13
Where’s Hanz when you need him?
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 11:44
Wait, who is Hanz? :S
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 11:53
Ask the Admiral. He knows.
Magoo
June 28, 2019 at 12:02
I’m scared of him.
Pariah
June 28, 2019 at 12:02
#Metoo!
G8crasha
June 28, 2019 at 10:04
I guess we have to start somewhere. If game streaming is the future, then I do expect the forerunners to make illogical decisions on how to offer the service. Within the industry, there aren’t really any established standards for a service like this. It takes competition in the market to help it reach equilibrium, like VOD. It started with forerunners like Netflix, who established a foundation, and then, as more competition joined the throngs, so it began to reach equilibrium. Now there’s predetermined set of rules a VOD service provider has to satisfy to be competitive. Give it time. Everything will come right.
Don’t forget, a lot of AAA publishers are moving towards a subscription platform, so if that becomes popular, Google won’t have a choice but to offer a subscription service because the publishers, being Googles source of games, offer the service.
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
June 28, 2019 at 11:13
“The value you get from the game on Stadia means you can play it on any screen in your life,”
More corporate shpiel.