22 instead of 12: Google Stadia expands its day one lineup
Google Stadia launches tomorrow (November 19) with 22 titles, which is somewhat more generous than the 12 titles announced last week.
Apparently, the reaction to the original lineup only consisting of 12 games was too underwhelming, and Google decided to add another ten. The expanded offering might also balance out the fact that Stadia will launch without many important features such as achievements, family sharing, 4K streaming and the Buddy Pass.
As Stadia team explains, via VentureBeat, “Alongside our publisher and developer partners, we’ve been working around the clock on getting ready for Stadia’s launch, and we are adding more incredible titles to our day one launch line-up. Gamers will have a total of 22 titles available to choose from to experience Stadia for the first time on Tuesday, with more games coming by the end of the year.”
Below is the updated lineup, with the newly announced titles typed in bold.
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Attack on Titan: Final Battle 2
- Destiny 2: The Collection (available in Stadia Pro)
- Farming Simulator 2019
- Final Fantasy XV
- Football Manager 2020
- Grid 2019
- Gylt
- Just Dance 2020
- Kine
- Metro Exodus
- Mortal Kombat 11
- NBA 2K20
- Rage 2
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Samurai Shodown (available in Stadia Pro)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Thumper
- Tomb Raider 2013
- Trials Rising
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Google has come under criticism for a particularly slow rollout of its streaming service. The functionality will be limited at launch. Just a handful of games was going to be available on day one. Besides, there is generally not a lot of hype for something that Google itself dubbed as “the future of gaming”. Now, that’s not necessarily bad as it removes a lot of pressure from the company that likes to take its time deploying new services.
However, Google might have finally admitted that it was too soft a launch. The expanded set of games, now 22 titles strong, might just be the thing to get people a little bit more excited.
