Google Stadia Eliminates Market Value By Saying Only Google Pixels Can Run The Console
by Tyler Pence
Google Stadia (Image courtesy of Google)
Google Stadia just announced that when their new console is released, you can only play on Google Pixel phones. This decision diminishes their consumer market by easily over 75 percent at least for the start out release of their console.
According to Inverse, Google’s statement said, “At launch we will be supporting Pixel 3 and 3a devices (3a, 3a XL, 3, 3XL) phones for mobile gameplay, more devices will be made available in the future. However purchasing games and managing your content can be done from any iOS 11+ or Android M+ device that can run the Stadia app.”
According to Jack of all Controllers, the only phones you can stream games on are the Google Pixel 3, the Google Pixel 3 XL, the Google Pixel 3a and the Google Pixel 3a XL. It’s unknown whether Google Stadia will be a cross-platform service, allowing users to play with those gaming on an Xbox One, PS4 or PC, but if it isn’t, good luck finding other players in multiplayer lobbies because the population will be minimal.
As anyone with a smart phone knows, most of the population in the world uses iPhones or Samsung Androids. Google Pixels are limited to say the least. You can download the Stadia app on your iPhone’s iOS 11 and your Android M, but the service itself and its cloud data will not be accessible.
In my opinion, Google’s upcoming gaming platform presently seems to be a dumpster fire. It is already a subscription service, and you have to pay for the games themselves if you want to diversify your library. With the subscription service fee stacked up on top of the retail price of games, on top of requiring a Google Pixel in order to run it, this project just seems to be a disaster in waiting. While Google does have the capacity to course correct their service, Stadia as it currently exists looks unlikely to be able to compete with the biggest console companies.
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