Games on Google Stadia Won’t be Cheaper Than PlayStation 4 or Xbox One

One of the biggest questions around Google’s video game streaming service, Stadia, has been around its business model. After all, everyone wants to know whether Google’s ‘Netflix for games’ approach involves a monthly fee or buying games. Well, thanks to Eurogamer, we finally have some answers.

Speaking to Eurogamer at a roundtable interview with UK games press, Stadia boss Phil Harrison has revealed that games on the cloud-based platform will likely cost the same as other versions of the games. They won’t necessarily be cheaper than their PS4 or Xbox One counterparts.

When asked about how Stadia could justify charging full price for video games on a streaming service, Harrison said the ability to play on any screen is where the value lies.

“The value you get from the game on Stadia means you can play it on any screen in your life – TV, PC, laptop, tablet, phone,” said Harrison. “I think that is going to be valuable to players.”

Harrison also spoke to Gamesradar+ that even if a developer or publisher pulls support for a game people might have already purchased on Stadia, the game will still be available to play for those people.

“Now, there may be – as we’ve seen in the past – there may be times where a developer or publisher no longer has the rights to sell to new players,” Harrison said. “That would mean that the game will not be available to new players, but it will continue to be available for existing players.”

Google Stadia’s set to go live for subscribers in November, and the free version will be out in 2020. Paying the subscription will get you access to 4K resolution and a library of free games, which includes Destiny 2. The non-subscription version will limit you to 1080p resolution, and you won’t be able to access the library of free games.

There’s no word on when Google will launch Stadia in India, and considering the Internet infrastructure of the country being, at the best of times, spotty, we don’t expect an official Stadia launch any time soon. However, since it is an entirely web-based service, it could theoretically be possible to just subscribe and give Stadia a try on whatever device you have that can run Google Chrome.