Stadia launch game line-up rises to 22 less than a day before its big release
But it's still pretty slim pickings.
Good news for Google Stadia fans this morning, as the number of launch games planned for the cloud gaming service has almost doubled overnight. Originally set to launch with just 12 games tomorrow, Google's Phil Harrison took to Twitter in the early hours of this morning to announce that Stadia's launch line-up would now total 22 games instead.
The whole thing smacks of desperation if you ask me, but at least Stadia's launch line-up is now looking a bit healthier than it did previously. However, as you can see from the list below, most of the new additions are all games that have already come out earlier in the year. The only exception is Football Manager 2020, which also launches for the first time tomorrow on Steam. Tequila Works' Gylt remains the only Stadia exclusive in the line-up, too.
Of course, while 22 launch games is definitely a lot better than just having 12, even that number still falls short of the total number of games currently confirmed for Stadia. Notable omissions include Doom (2016), The Division 2, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Borderlands 3, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Superhot to name just a few.
Here's Google Stadia's launch game line-up for November 19 in full, with new games added in bold:
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey
- Destiny 2
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Gylt
- Kine
- Just Dance 2020
- Samurai Shodown
- Thumper
- Attack on Titan: Final Battle 2
- Farming Simulator 19
- Final Fantasy XV
- Football Manager 2020
- Grid 2019
- Metro Exodus
- NBA 2K20
- Rage 2
- Trials Rising
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Games aren't the only thing Stadia will be lacking at launch, either. As I previously reported last week, Stadia won't support 4K HDR and 5.1 surround sound streaming on PC tomorrow, nor will it have any kind of family sharing feature or way of viewing your achievements. Existing Chromecast Ultra devices also won't have the necessary firmware update to run Google Stadia on your TV until some undisclosed time after launch, so the only way you'll be able to stream games to your TV tomorrow is with one of the Chromecast Ultras included in the now sold out Google Stadia Founders Edition. PC users will still be able to stream Stadia games via their Chrome browser, of course, but only in standard 1920x1080, non-HDR form with stereo sound.
It's also worth re-iterating that Stadia isn't a Netflix-style subscription where you gain access to a whole library of games for a monthly fee. Instead, you'll need to buy each game individually, just like you would on Steam or any other PC storefront. The only game that comes free as part of your Stadia Pro subscription is Destiny 2.
Compare that to Xbox Game Pass for PC, for example, where you do get a library of games for a (currently, at least) low monthly fee, including all first-party Microsoft games on Day One, and Stadia in its current form looks like a pretty weak offering in comparison. Of course, Stadia may well pick up steam once some of its other big confirmed games come to the service, such as Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3, but for now, it's looking pretty slim pickings.