Google Stadia Connect from 7/14: the good, the bad, and the less bad
So let’s get the bad news out of the way…well, some of the bad news, anyway. Stadia’s refusal to state November 19th as the Cyberpunk 2077 release date all but confirms for me that the game is not going to launch on the same day-and-date as other major platforms. You are safe for now, PS4 pre-order.
Before we go any further, please consider subscribing to this channel for more video game content. I’ve done a lot of Stadia focused content lately, and it’s been really fun. The Stadia community has been incredibly welcoming. So, I’ll probably keep doing Stadia content in addition to my normal non-Stadia content.
Yes, the July 14th Stadia Connect has come and gone, and overall, I’m a bit deflated. The number of games was underwhelming. The type of games was underwhelming. And I don’t believe Stadia did much to expand the user-base like I think they needed to. Well, except for one important feature, which I’ll get into shortly.
You’ll want to stick around through the end of this video because at the end I’m going to mention some viewer comments left on my predictions video from July 7th to see what people got right and what people got wrong.
The presentation started as I thought it might, by reintroducing Stadia to the public. A succinct commercial full of game titles that us Stadia fans already know about, but the rest of the gaming public might not. This section of the Connect ended with a detailed look at the Click to Play feature. Content creators can leverage the video description to place a link that will take viewers directly to the game on Stadia to begin playing the game instantly.
Functionally speaking, this seems like little more than a standard outbound link. Practically speaking, this could help expand the user base. If content creators place these links at the top of descriptions while streaming, viewers will see these Stadia links constantly. Multiple touchpoints increases the chance for a user to take action. The obvious limiting factor here is that the number of non-Stadia gamers watching Stadia streams is probably quite low, at least right now. Though, perhaps exclusive games will help this. Gamers who want to see what Orcs Must Die 3 is all about, for example, will have to watch a Stadia stream.
Speaking of exclusives, we saw a few here. Super Bomberman R Online from Konami is a timed exclusive, and it looks like it could be fun. I haven’t played a Bomberman game in decades. I’m not a multiplayer gamer, but this is one that could get me to test the waters a bit. And, it’s nice to see Konami making a video game again. But don’t expect many more. They’re pretty invested in the Pachinko machine industry now. Super Bomberman R Online will be released Fall 2020.
We got a trailer for Serious Sam 4 from Croteam, which will be a timed exclusive on Stadia and PC. This is a beloved series that I’m glad to see back. Steam shows the release date as August 2020, but for some reason the Stadia Connect did not mention a release date at all. This seems very strange, but I’ll try not to look into it. I’ve already bummed myself out by looking too much into the lack of a Cyberpunk 2077 release date.
Outcasters from Splash Damage is a Stadia exclusive which was introduced as an effort from Stadia Games and Entertainment. This introduction addresses the confusion I had expressed in my predictions video. I wasn’t sure if Stadia Games and Entertainment was a studio or if it was a division responsible for getting games from third parties onto Stadia. It turns out, it’s the latter.
The general consensus in the Stadia community, based on comments I’ve read online, is that while we wanted to see an exclusive from one of Stadia’s own divisions or studios, this game doesn’t seem to be the one we wanted. I did expect a new first-party game to be a multiplayer battle type game, which it is, but I, and it seems others too, wanted something grander, something more AAA feeling. This game seems like a mid-tier team-battle game with a few new mechanics. But I don’t think it’s the kind of game that will bring new people into Stadia and it’s certainly not the showpiece that will get people talking and keep them talking up until its launch in the Fall.
Finally, with respect to exclusives, Orcs Must Die 3 from Robot Entertainment is a timed Stadia exclusive and is the only game to get officially announced and stealth-dropped today, July 14th. This is a game I’ll probably watch more than play myself—again, I’m a single player gamer—but I know a lot of people are excited for it. This game also showcases Stadia’s unique ability to have hundreds of enemies in a wave at once, which is great.
Stadia needs games like this that showcase what’s unique to the platform. Unfortunately, this stealth-drop wasn’t so stealthy as it was leaked weeks ago. Also, unfortunately, it’s the only game that was released free to Stadia Pro members today. I was not only hoping but actually expecting at least two games to be announced and available today for Stadia Pro members.
11 additional games and game expansions were mentioned, which I’ll run through quickly right now in chronological order according to the stated release date.
Available in early access right now is One Hand Clapping from Bad Dream Games. Platformers are one of my favorite genres, but this game doesn’t do much for me. It uses a unique singing mechanic and I’m not a fan of scaring my family by singing to myself here in my already creepy dungeon-like downstairs game room.
PUBG Season 8 is coming on July 30th. Neat.
Elder Scrolls Online: Stonethorn is coming August 24th. Also neat.
Dead by Daylight from Behaviour Interactive is a good get for the Stadia platform. Currently, the Stadia store doesn’t have any asymmetrical multiplayer horror games. And on Stadia, the game will support Crowd Play and Crowd Choice. Crowd Play is a Stadia feature that allows stream viewers to queue up to play the game with the streamer. Crowd Choice provides stream viewers with collective agency over various facets of the game. Think of it like a voting mechanism that impacts the game in real time. I believe Twitch has a similar feature currently. Dead by Daylight comes to Stadia in September 2020.
Also coming to Stadia in September is Hello Neighbor from TinyBuild Games. Hello Neighbor is a stealth horror game with very non-horror visuals which I think makes for a very interesting subversion of expectations. The design itself plays into the very unease that a stealth horror game relies on mechanically. I’m excited to try this one, and considering it will be free to Stadia Pro subscribers upon launch I won’t have any reason not to. The follow-up prequel Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek hits Stadia in late 2020.
Hitman and Hitman 2 will come to Stadia in September with Hitman 3 coming in January 2021. All three games are from IO Interactive. This is perhaps the only announcement in this entire Stadia Connect that got me excited. I’ve somehow not played any of the modern Hitman games despite being really intrigued by them. Also, Hitman will be free to Stadia Pro subscribers which is really smart. Build the audience for Hitman in preparation for the release of Hitman 3 in January.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in this Stadia Direct was the announcement that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice from FromSoftware will be coming to the platform. FromSoftware are the people behind the Dark Souls games and Bloodorne. The arrival of Sekiro is a good thing for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, because the game won tons of awards last year including Game of the Year at The Game Awards, this game brings further legitimacy to the Stadia platform. Second, because FromSoftware games are so heavily dependent upon perfect timing combat scenarios, this could be another game to showcase the surprisingly low lag with Stadia. Doom Eternal showcased the speed and fidelity. PUBG showcased Stadia’s capacity for twitch shooters in a multiplayer arena. Sekiro will showcase how the platform has come close to eliminating lag.
Lastly, with no release date mentioned in the Stadia Connect but with other sources mentioning December 2020, we have Outriders from People Can Fly. This game looks to be more my style than almost every other game included in the Stadia Connect. A post-apocalyptic, action shooter with a single player campaign and RPG elements? Yes please.
And that’s all we got from the July 14th Stadia Connect.
