Why I might get Cyberpunk 2077 on Google Stadia
I pre-ordered Cyberpunk 2077 immediately after the very first teaser for $48 using Best Buy’s Gamer Club Unlocked (RIP). The pre-order comes with a steel book, which I don’t care about, so I could sell that for a few dollars, bringing my total cost to maybe $40, which is presumably about $20 less than Cyberpunk 2077 will be on Stadia.
But I’m actually considering cancelling my PS4 pre-order and buying on Stadia. Why?
I’ve been playing a lot of games on Stadia lately. I’m impressed with its capabilities and I’m excited to see where the platform will go. But what concerns me, among other things, is game selection and game release dates. Stadia needs a larger selection of games and they need to release big name, AAA games on the same date as on other major platforms like Playstation, Xbox, Switch, and PC. And this needs to happen consistently. Yes, DOOM Eternal had a simultaneous release across all major platforms, but that was back in April, when Stadia was still trying to scrub away the stink left over from its rocky launch.
So, that’s the first consideration. Will Cyberpunk 2077 launch on Stadia at the same time as other platforms? All the way back in August 2019 CD Projekt Red stated that the Stadia release of Cyberpunk 2077 would be after the other major platforms in April 2020, but that was before the game was delayed. Twice. The first time, when the game was delayed from April to September CD Projekt Red again maintained that the Stadia release would be after the console and PC releases.
However, after this second delay from September to November, we’ve been given no such similar caveat regarding the Stadia release time. The official Cyberpunk 2077 website even shows the Stadia logo under a banner reading November 19th, 2020.
Of course this appearance of the Stadia logo could just be a simple way to make the marketing message easier. Rather than plaster multiple release dates on the website, they have one for the main release date and the list of platforms is not necessarily a promise for that date, but just a way to highlight the eventual target platforms.
I’m so excited for Cyberpunk 2077 that I’m very much considering taking the day off of work to play it. I’ve done this for a few games, and every time I feel like a kid again when I didn’t have day-job responsibilities, and my only goal was to make my way to the next checkpoint or to the next quest-giving NPC. Oh to be a kid again when all games were fun and all Pop-Tarts were Cookies and Creme flavored.
In fact, if Cyberpunk 2077 launches on midnight November 19th on Stadia, then it’s possible I might not only play the game on Stadia, but I may take TWO days off from work. I’d also take off the day before in order to sleep in preparation for the all-nighter on November 19th. I’m an old man. Old people have to make plans for such radical adjustments to their sleep schedules. Look forward to that, kids.
I know PS4, and probably Xbox, will offer the ability to pre-load digital games so like-minded non-Stadia old people can also enjoy the all-nighter gaming session, but if I’m going to go digital, I’m going with Stadia streaming.
If I keep my PS4 pre-order physical version, that means waiting hours and hours for the install, which means not starting right at midnight, but instead many hours later. Cyberpunk 2077 is reportedly 80 GB in size. Red Dead Redemption 2, for comparison is 99GB and took anywhere from 6 to 9 hours to install. So, we may be looking at an install of 4 – 8 hours, and that’s not including waiting for the game to arrive in the mail or driving to the store to get it.
But, despite all those hurdles, there’s still one pretty big deterrent for me when it comes to replacing my PS4 pre-order of Cyberpunk 2077 with the Stadia version. Remember, I’m an old man. So, I really like physical media. I still buy physical books rather than ebooks. I’ve even read a physical magazine in the last 5 years. I know digital is the future, and according to Capcom, who currently sees 80% of their game sales through digital means, digital isn’t the future; digital is the present. But I like the way the games look on my shelf. I like the ceremony of removing a disk from the case, hearing that plasticy poppy cracky sound, and putting the disk into the system. I also like the way my knees ache when the rains are commin’ and how hills back in my day were always inclines no matter which direction you were walking…I’m old, remember?
So, the very value proposition that Stadia has is the one thing I see less value in than my physical media preference. And that’s really all it is. Just a personal preference. If I prefer apples over bananas, telling me how great a banana is doesn’t make it an apple…in this analogy, apples are physical games and bananas are streaming services, I think. And I aint eatin neither of them unless they’re mushed up into a pudding-like texture, because I don’t have teeth anymore. Because I’m old. Okay, that’s the last “I’m old” thing I’ll say in this video.
Now, if I was really crazy, I could get the Stadia version and then wait a few years for the physical version to drop in price before then adding it to my shelves. But I’m not quite that crazy yet.
But if a physical version of a game is the only real reason I’m considering keeping my PS4 pre-order, that says a lot about the trust I have in Stadia as a platform. And perhaps if you are someone who trusts me, you may trust me enough to give Stadia a shot, especially if you aren’t into ancient artifacts like I am.
