The Google Stadia team held an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit today in the subreddit focused on the device, and it did not go well. Google Stadia is the newest video game platform to soon enter the fray. Players connect a Chromecast Ultra to their TVs and stream games, playable on most devices with the official Stadia controller, or on PC with an input device of the player's choosing.
Streaming video games, the concept behind Google Stadia, is not new. Players pay for a game or a low monthly fee for a selection of games, and the streaming companies host the titles on their servers while gamers play the games streamed to their display through a console or computer. Remember the ill-fated OnLive? Stadia aims to be like that, but with hopefully more stable and playable games thanks to Google's deployed datacenter architecture running the show in the background.
Director of Product for Stadia Andrey Doronichev and Product Manager Beri Lee took to the Stadia's subreddit and hosted an AMA for the product's launch. They did that thing where a company's employees try to be exceptionally friendly and personable in the face of some potentially problematic issues. Namely, the shipping back-up gamers are experiencing ahead of this product's launch. Most players don't know when they'll actually be able to enjoy Stadia, even though they pre-ordered it well ahead of its November 19 release date. Journalist Russell Holly followed the thread on Twitter and shared some of its more amazing moments.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of bad callouts to go around. Like this one, where fans learned that they'd need to buy games over their phones since there seems to be no other UI right now.
Then we have news that Stadia isn't coming to iOS any time soon, with the keyword from Google's reps being "eventually."
Also, if you thought you'd be able to use your current Chromecast Ultra with the Stadia at launch, think again. There's an update coming "soon after launch," but they won't work on day one.
It's not all bad, though, as Google made an offer to hand-deliver a Stadia to one lucky fan.
It sounds like Google made a strong effort to ensure Stadia would be here in time for the holiday shopping season. That might explain why so many important features are missing from the product's launch. They'll surely come in the future, but players who pre-ordered Google Stadia expecting nothing but sunshine and rainbows once their platform arrives may be frustrated by all that was revealed in this AMA.
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Google Stadia is a promising platform with a boatload of great tech behind it. The AMA, though, was sort of a PR nightmare for the company among its most dire fans. Stadia launches on November 19th, 2019, for those who are lucky enough to have one.
Source: Reddit, (via Russell Holly - Twitter)