Stadia Pro subscribers will get first dibs on the free tier when their trial ends

February 17, 2020

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Google has been handling Stadia in a pretty weird way, and things are about to get even stranger.

With many Pro users having their trials expire at the end of this month, but the free tier of the game streaming service still a few months off, there were some questions about whether or not you could keep using the service (and playing games you paid for) even if you stopped paying for Stadia Pro. Fortunately, it seems like that should be fine.

Stadia's free tier only for ex-Pro users

So it looks like Google will be soft-launching the free tier of Stadia, but only for ex-Pro users. New users still won't be able to hop in without paying, and those looking for the free tier will have to wait a few more months. That move doesn't really make a lot of sense to me, because if it's available for current users, why not make it broadly available to anyone that wants to give you money? Free users don't get free games, so they'll still have to pay to get in the door, excluding the handful of free titles like Destiny.

But when will Stadia be offered to everyone? Who knows. Hopefully, Google gets it out soon, considering we have some bigger launches like Doom: Eternal coming up, but you never know with Google's plans.

If you do decide to cancel your sub and go with the free tier, keep in mind you're going to lose a few things. Any of the free Stadia Pro games that were given out won't be playable on your free account, and you'll obviously be unable to claim newer free games and use any discounts that are exclusively offered to Pro subscribers.

Any games that you've already purchased, though, will still be playable, although only in 1080p and in stereo. You'll lose the surround sound and 4k options, which really probably only matters if you were streaming games to your Chromecast Ultra.

Are you planning on sticking it out with Stadia, or hopping over to NVIDIA's GeForce Now streaming service?

via: Android Police

Jared Peters Author

Born in southern Alabama, Jared spends his working time selling phones and his spare time writing about them. The Android enthusiasm started with the original Motorola Droid, but the tech enthusiasm currently covers just about everything. He likes PC gaming, Lenovo's Moto Z line, and a good productivity app.