Google Stadia Launch Update: Stadia Codes Being Sent Out 'Throughout The Day'

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGL GOOG Google launches its cloud gaming platform Stadia on Tuesday, allowing players to play games on their mobile devices instead of a gaming computer or console, and with no downloading.

How Much Does Stadia Cost?

The service is $9.99 a month. The Stadia Founders Edition comes with a controller, a Chromecast Ultra and three months of the service. Players still have to buy games. A separate free version is expected to launch next year.

Stadia Launch Titles

Games available at the launch include “Mortal Kombat 11,” “Red Dead Redemption 2,” and “NBA 2K20.” In all, 22 games are available starting Tuesday. Initially Google had included only 12 games but made a late decision to add 10 more.

Excited to announce that we are INCREASING the Day One launch line-up of titles for @GoogleStadia - we now have TWENTY TWO games launching with the platform on Tuesday. Huge thank you to our game developer and publisher partners for bringing more titles #stadia

— Phil Harrison (@MrPhilHarrison) November 18, 2019

How It Works And How To Set It Up

Google sent an email to people who pre-ordered Stadia, explaining the set-up, and it does still require some hardware.

Users need to connect a Chromecast Ultra to their router, and it works best with an Ethernet cable instead of connecting wirelessly. The email also says users should use the Google Home App, which is free on the Play Store and the iOS App Store, to set up Chromecast before setting up Stadia.

See how easy it is to play Stadia on your TV with Chromecast Ultra with a simple click of a button using the Stadia App pic.twitter.com/LB1qSWOUb4

— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) November 15, 2019

What Are People Saying About It?

Well, it works, for starters. That seems to be a key point hit by a number of reviewers, that you can actually play games stored in the cloud through this thing. Reviews have been mixed, with a number of reviewers saying they were pleasantly surprised there isn't more lag time, or latency.

But there have also been several complaints on Twitter, and in published reviews.

#Stadia 4k gaming is 20GB per hour. Stadia launches with Assasins Creed Odyssey a minimum 40hr game.

Yikes, may God bless your data caps.
 

— Mixer.com/iAmKidSmoove (@kidsmoove) November 14, 2019

The complaints revolved around how much of your data plan the service uses, and the relatively small number of games.

Launch Update

Some Stadia owners on Twitter and Reddit are wondering where their Stadia Access Codes are can "sit tight." Google Stadia responded on Twitter:

Hey Founder, thanks for your tweet. Founders whose orders were shipped on Nov 18 will begin receiving their access codes throughout the day on Nov 19 and 20 — sit tight!

— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) November 19, 2019

Related Links:

Analyst Likes Google After More Details From Stadia

Google's Stadia Video Game Platform Announces Pricing, Games Structure

Photo credit: dronepicr via Wikimedia Commons