Stadia Pro won’t be the only game subscription on Google’s Stadia service

Google’s Stadia service is starting to shape up nicely. The big reveal was last week, with information on games, hardware, and pricing.

Now, there’s some more news out of E3, with Stadia’s head, Phil Harrison, letting slip that publishers will be able to offer their own game subscriptions through Google’s streaming service.

Subscriptions, subscriptions, get your subscriptions here…

Spotted by RockPaperShotgun, the tidbit was dropped during an interview with Geoff Keighley during the YouTube live E3 show.

Will we see the following existing game subscriptions come to Stadia? That remains to be seen, but with Google throwing its considerable weight behind the project, it’s a certainty that at least some of these subscriptions will follow:

• EA/Origin Access: EA’s never one to pass up the chance at a payday. The publisher has already confirmed that its games will be on Stadia Day 1, so I expect its game subscription to arrive on Stadia at some point.
• Xbox Game Pass: You might scoff at this, but Xbox head Phil Spencer wants Xbox everywhere, and for the name to be uncoupled from the traditional console hardware. It’s already coming to PC, so could Stadia be another big partnership?
• UTOMIK: Want to play a game from yesteryear that no longer works on modern PC hardware? Utomik is one of your best chances, and a partnership with Google might pay off.
• PSNow: HAHAHAHAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. *catches breath* HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sony doesn’t play well with others. Maybe Google’s bank account can get them onboard but I doubt it.

Recent research by SuperData shows that game subscription subscribers spend almost double on in-game items. That alone should be enough to entice publishers to put their subscriptions or games onto Stadia. Now we just have to wait until November when Stadia Pro launches and those sweet Founder’s Edition controllers ship. I’ve got mine coming, do you?

What do you think? Interested in Stadia? What do you think about other subscription services being on the platform? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.