Google Makes Stadia Free For Two Months

Citing stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic, Google temporarily opened Stadia Pro, its cloud gaming service, to gamers in 14 countries. Users don't need to buy a hardware bundle to access the platform, which was previously required. Instead, they'll get two months free when they sign up; existing Stadia users will also get two months free.

Stadia was built on a bold idea: offer console-level games on phones, tablets, or old laptops without all the fancy hardware or upfront costs. All you need is the phone app or desktop Chrome browser.

• Stadia's Pro service costs $9.99/month and promises gameplay in up to 4K resolution. The default screen resolution will be temporarily scaled back to “reduce load on the internet.”

But when you look at Stadia's performance, you can hear Jason Bateman saying "bold strategy, Cotton." When the service launched last November, reviews were mixed. The streaming quality really depends on the strength of your internet connection.

Big picture: Stadia may not bring console-level quality or a complete game library, but it's ready to scale its user base.