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Google has disclosed that its Stadia streaming platform will be missing a lot of features when it launches on November 19 (via Gamespot).
Andrey Doronichev and Beri Lee, two members of Stadia’s team, held a Reddit AMA yesterday. They thanked those users who dropped by for ‘thoughtful and engaging’ questions, but what has everyone’s tongues wagging is the paucity of features Stadia will have on arrival. Multiplayer features State Share and Crowd Play will not be implemented until 2020, and it’s the same story with the family sharing option. Stadia’s achievement system is missing, but Stream Connect might be included before the end of the year.
Through Chromecast Ultra, Stadia will be able to stream 4K resolution, HDR, and 5.1 surround sound, but this won’t be possible on PC Chrome. That’ll be appended in 2020, too, and existing Chromecast Ultra devices won't talk to Stadia until a patch is rolled out a little after launch day. All this is compounded onto the realisation that the Stadia controller isn’t wireless right now and is only compatible with Chromecast Ultra with a USB cable.
‘Our approach to releasing features on Stadia is similar to how we run Google Search, YouTube, and other Google services: gradual rollout and continuous improvement, based on your feedback,’ Doronichev explained. ‘We always start with nailing the key user-journey and then proceed with releasing extra features. YouTube started with “watch video.” For Stadia, it's “Play the Game on your biggest screen.”
He added that new additions to Stadia will ‘start popping as soon as one week after launch’, and Google promises a weekly plan of ‘many more cool new platform features on the roadmap’. Also, the Founder’s and Premiere Editions of Stadia will be shipped on a first-come first-served basis, so people who have pre-ordered the streaming service may not receive their bundle on November 19.
