Google has cut the price of its Google Stadia Premiere Edition hardware in the hopes of encouraging more gamers to jump aboard with the nascent cloud gaming platform.
The Premiere Edition, which includes a Chromecast Ultra and the Stadia Pro controller is now $99.99 in the US and £89.99 in the UK – that’s a saving of $30/£30.
However, the savings aren’t quite as pronounced when you consider Google is no longer offering 90-days of access to the Stadia Pro subscription service with the bundle.
Considering Stadia Pro does cost $9.99/£9.99 a month, the effective price cut is wiped out. However, at least it gives gamers the opportunity to choose. Everyone does get a month-long test of Stadia Pro whether they buy the Premiere Edition or not.
Related: Google Stadia vs Project xCloud
Stadia Pro gives access to some free games as well as access to 4K HDR streaming and 5.1 surround sound. For example, the free games for June are Get Packed, Little Nightmares and Superhot. Previously released Pro games include Destiny 2, GRID, Gylt and PUBG.
Access to the basic Stadia service is free, but you’ll be restricted to HD gaming and will have to purchase any of the games you wish to play via the cloud-based service.
So far Stadia has failed to catch-on in the manner Google may have anticipated when it launched in November last year, so it makes sense Google would seek to lessen the financial expenditure to jump aboard with the Premiere Edition.
Our reviewer says: “Google Stadia’s cloud-streaming service shows a lot of promise, and could be a great option for those who want to game without spending a fortune on a console. But with lots of missing features at launch, Stadia has a long way to go to become a serious challenger to PlayStation and Xbox.”
Have you tried Google Stadia yet? Does it represent the future of gaming? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
