Publisher subscriptions coming to Google Stadia too

Stadia boss Phil Harrison has confirmed publishers will be able to offer additional subscription services for Stadia Pro subscribers on Google’s upcoming streaming platform.

In an interview with Geoff Keighley during YouTube’s E3 Live show, Harrison said: “You’ll also see in due course – in relatively short order from now – you’ll see publishers starting to think about their own subscriptions. We support that on our platform, and we’ll see some announcements in due course around that.

“I don’t think that will be for every publisher, but I think [it will be] for some of the publishers who have bigger catalogues and more significant line-ups.”

Google recently announced Stadia pricing, launch games and release plans, with the service set to go live in 14 counties in November 2019.

To play Stadia this year, users will have to purchase the $129 / £119 Founder’s Edition. At launch, a $9.99 / £8.99 monthly Pro subscription will also be required, with games that are not included in the Stadia Pro library requiring separate purchase. A free service will launch in 2020.

When asked how often subscribers can expect free games – such as Bungie‘s Destiny 2 – to be made available as part of the Pro subscription, Harrison confirmed: “It’s going to be very familiar to the current subscriptions that gamers are used to, and obviously we’re going to work hard to put as many great games and value into that subscription as we can.

“It’s up to the gamer how they want to engage with our platform. We wanted to give gamers a choice, and we wanted to give them control. We wanted to give them a choice of how they purchase their games. Not all games will be available on subscription, so they were – it was important that we gave gamers the opportunity to get the widest possible set of games.

“But remember that the games are not linked to a particular device anymore,” Harrison added. “That one purchase gives you the value across your TV, your PC, your laptop, your tablet, and your phone – so any screen in your life. We think that that is a transformational moment for gamers. They also get the absolute latest greatest hardware powering their experience without the need to buy the hardware.”