How Gaming Subscriptions Currently Square Up to Google Stadia

A lot has been made of the upcoming Google Stadia game streaming service, particularly its sign-up subscription element. Once hailed as 'the Netflix of gaming,' Stadia's plans now appear to be a little bit less revolutionary. Instead, by signing up to Stadia Pro, subscribers will get access to some game discounts, 4K/HDR streaming, 5.1 sound, and "roughly one free game per month". On top of subscription, players will need to buy new releases and many older games separately.

Signing up to game providers and game platforms is nothing new, and due to the competition in all gaming industries, signing up invariably comes with added benefits along with the primary purpose of either gaining access to games or being able to play online. So, with Google Stadia offering game streaming for £9 per month (£108 per year), how do the other gaming sign-up services compare?

PC gamers finally getting rewarded for signing up

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Long-time titan of PC gaming Steam has never needed to offer anything alongside its sign-up service. Steam boasts a huge library of PC games and has sales every year for its account holders. There are also many free-to-play games for those who sign up, but as they are always free to play, the offer is very different from a platform giving free games to play that usually cost money.

In its continued attempts to muscle in on Steam's PC gaming monopoly, the Epic Game Store is offering better deals for developers and a more appealing service to those who sign-up. In the Epic Game Store, players get a free game every week. Through the last week of July and the first week of August 2019, two games priced at £15 were made free, as were triple-A titles For Honor and Alan Wake.

Epic has gone the right way about challenging Steam with the use of free games, bringing the platform in line with the likes of the home consoles and goes further than Google Stadia plans to, without charging a penny for signing up.

With increased online competition come bigger bonuses

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Of all of the gaming platforms, however, it is that of online casino gaming which offers the most lucrative bonuses for signing up. With or without signing up, many online casinos allow people to play their games for free or in a demo mode with credits. But if someone decides to sign up, they get access to playing the real games for real money as well as a bonus.

The most common forms of these bonuses are the matched deposit bonus. By signing up and making a deposit, the online casino then matches the player's deposit to a set per cent in the form of bonus money in games. The bonus money, once played through the required amount, can then be withdrawn as real cash. But there's a new and more popular bonus, with no deposit casino bonus codes being sought by many gamers. With these bonuses, players only need to sign-up and enter the code to get a bonus.

Due to how competitive the online casino industry is, websites have to keep up with their rivals' bonus offers to stay in the game. It has created a gaming space in which can be very rewarding to players who wish to sign-up to new or multiple platforms.

Battle of the home consoles to get you to sign-up

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With more and more games featuring an online multiplayer mode, the last generation of home consoles decided to introduce an option for its players to sign-up to access the online arenas. At first, the subscription only covered the online access needed to play against other via the internet, but now, due to the competition in the industry, all three major consoles offer bonuses features to those who sign-up.

For the Xbox One, players need to purchase Xbox Live Gold if they wish to play the online modes of their video games. But the £50 per year subscription does come with some additional benefits. Not only do Xbox Live Gold members get access to discounted games after signing-up, but they also get two to four free games each month, one of which is a classic Xbox 360 title for the Xbox One. However, players have to continue to pay for the subscription to play the free games; cancelling the membership locks the games.

On the rival Sony console, the PlayStation 4, players are also required to purchase a £50 per year pass to play games online. Signing-up to PlayStation Plus gives players exclusive discounts on purchases from the PlayStation Store, two free games for the PS4 each month, and free additional content for existing popular games, like the PS Plus Carbon Pack for Fortnite and the PS Plus Play Pack for Apex Legends.

The newest player in the game, the Nintendo Switch, has also decided to add a subscription service to grant online gaming to those who sign-up. The Nintendo Switch Online pass, however, is much cheaper than its competitors and offers a uniquely structured bonus. The pass is only £18 per year and gives players access to their ever-growing Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) library. Other services don't allow players to access free games if they weren't subscribed at the time that they were offered for free, but Nintendo gives players all of the free games that are unlocked with the subscription. It also has a dedicated smartphone app that comes with special features like voice chat.

The home console subscriptions are very similar to that of the Google Stadia with their offer of bonus free games but are significantly cheaper while providing more games. That said, players need to pay upfront costs to get consoles, whereas Stadia will be cloud-based.
The Stadia subscription, given that it is for streaming games, aligns fairly with what other platforms offer as bonuses to those who sign-up. However, to be competitive, it may want to step up its bonuses. Stadia doesn't need to go as far as the incredibly competitive online casinos but should consider offering more free games as the service is making players pay full price for most titles.