Google To Announce Stadia Games, Unveil Pricing On June 6
"Some news can't wait for E3," Google stated in a video posted on Twitter today. And with that, we know exactly when we'll be learning more about Google Stadia, the company's upcoming game streaming service.
On Thursday, June 6 at 9 a.m. PT, Google will broadcast "the first ever Stadia Connect," providing information on Stadia's launch and the pricing structure the service will use. On top of that, Google also has some game announcements planned, and we can't help but wonder if Stadia will beat a few E3 shows to the punch by offering a first look at some unannounced games.
Imagine seeing a trailer for Watch Dogs 3 or some other major title on Google's stream before E3 even properly kicks off. That would be wild.
In any case, it sounds like this Stadia Connect thing is going to become a recurring event, much like Nintendo's Direct streams. So we can look forward to seeing more of these as Google aims to show off new titles or new features for Stadia. It seems to work mighty fine for Nintendo, which has been able to skip out on E3 press conferences for a number of years now. And Google being Google — it owns YouTube, after all — means that the company can pretty comfortably communicate via video. It just makes sense.
What we don't know at this point is how long the stream will last. Will this be a quick five-minute romp through a bunch of Stadia information with some game titles thrown in for good measure? Or will this be a 20- or 30-minute showcase, telling us everything we need to know and giving us a solid look at some of the games coming to the platform? If we get a shorter stream, there might be a few other Stadia Connects before the service actually sees a launch. If we get a longer stream, the arrival of Stadia might be closer than we imagine.
We can say this with certainty: Google Stadia is going to change the landscape of games in a very big way. It's another platform now, right up there with PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch. It'll rope publishers into deals, play host to exclusives, and bump right up against competing efforts from Sony and Microsoft. What remains to be seen is how consumers will take to it, and we won't know that until Stadia actually goes live.
Hopefully we'll get a launch date this Thursday.