Stadia after two months

I’ve been using Stadia for a couple of months now, and I like it. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m more of a casual gamer than a hardcore one, so I was drawn to Stadia by the ability to play console games without the upfront cost of buying a console (although I did have to pay for the Stadia controller, it should be reusable as a generic USB controller in the event I stop using Stadia.

After two months I’m still enjoying Stadia and playing it regularly. More specifically, I’ve been enjoying and playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. After initially thinking more about the technology, now I primarily focus on the games. Destiny 2 was initially fun, but it quickly got repetitive and I lost interest in it. I’m sure it’s got a passionate fan base, but I personally don’t really see the appeal; I didn’t find the storyline that compelling. AC:O, by contrast, has way more story than I expected. Every time I suspect I might be nearly the end of the game, there’s more game.

My shift to focusing on the games highlights the primary challenge I think Stadia faces. If you’re focused on the latest and greatest games, Stadia’s library is still sorely lacking. If, like me, you’re more interested in just playing some fun games, Stadia is a great way to try them without committing to a console. To bring in the gamer audience, Stadia needs to grow its library as quickly as it can. Which they clearly recognize and are working to do.

The part of Stadia’s technology that I really like is its ability to work across devices. While I starting off playing mostly on our TV using the Chromecast Ultra, these days I primarily play off the iMac in our office. It’s really convenient to be able to choose which device to play on, rather than being tied to a particular room and device.

I wasn’t sure in my first month of use whether I’d stick with Stadia, but for now I’m planning to continue my subscription once my initial three month subscription completes.