Google is offering two free months of Stadia Pro to anyone who signs up for an account, starting today. The ailing cloud gaming service hasn’t been well received since it launched in November of last year, and Stadia’s early adopters have been increasingly unhappy with Google’s lack of communication. Although the company promised over 10 Stadia timed exclusives by July 2020, that may be another promise it will have to break considering the worldwide crisis caused by COVID-19.
In response to the ongoing pandemic, however, Google has begun offering free access to Stadia Pro for two months. Anyone who signs up will be given access to nine games, a few of which are GRID, Destiny 2: The Collection, and Thumper. Existing Stadia Pro subscribers won’t be charged for the next two months, but the subscription fee will return to $9.99 per month after that.
Those who plan to take advantage of this offer will need to do a few things: sign up on Stadia’s website, download the Stadia app to your smartphone, and have a controller or mouse and keyboard with an HID-compliant USB in order to play on a desktop, laptop, or tablet. Consumers can also play Stadia over wi-fi on supported Android phones. Google warns of increased demand during this time, which will put more stress on Stadia’s servers. The company plans to reduce bandwidth consumption by “working toward a temporary feature that changes the default screen resolution from 4k to 1080p.” Given that Stadia has trouble hitting true 4K anyway, most people probably won’t notice the difference, and it’s a cool gesture from Google that will double as a way of getting people to try out Stadia now that it’s first few months have been more difficult than anticipated.
