Despite what seemed like a constant stream of criticism on all fronts, Google Stadia had a very strong library of games in comparison to many other cloud services – particularly for people who picked up the service in its third year. Unfortunately, a number of the titles from Stadia are now no longer available in the cloud because competing services (GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Amazon Luna, Blacknut, Utomik) don’t carry them. Let’s have a look at what we’re now missing in the cloud with Stadia’s absence.
As an aside, I do realize that with a virtual desktop type solution like Shadow or airgpu that you can play most of these games. You can also run your own private cloud based Windows or Linux desktop if you like! But, such options come with little of the conveniences that Stadia and other cloud gaming specific services offer. Operating a full PC in the cloud is a legitimately valuable service, though. If it is what you are looking for, do check out those two services!
Stadia Games I’d Most Like to See Back in the Cloud
With the return to the cloud of Calico and Baldur’s Gate 3 potentially getting picked up by GeForce NOW, I thought it was a good time to reflect on the other games I’d like to see return to the cloud.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (the highest rated cloud game on metacritic!)
- Celeste (it’s mere existence dispelled rumors about cloud gaming latency)
- FIFA (you can play it w/ the Boosteroid “install” section)
- Resident Evil 7 & 8
- Dragon Quest XI
- Final Fantasy XV
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Atari Recharged Titles (what a tragically short time we had together!)
- Mafia III
- Madden
- PUBG (the cloud needs more chicken dinners)
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- Borderlands 3
- Risk of Rain 2
- Little Nightmares I & II (hard to believe these haven’t been gobbled up)
- Katamari Damacy
- Spiritfarer
- Attack on Titan 2
- NBA/PGA 2K
- PHOGS!
- Monster Boy (just left Luna today, too!)
- Wave Break
- GYLT (the original Stadia exclusive!)
- Sundered
- Elemental War 2
- Tri6: Infinite
I had never played any of the above games before Stadia. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that RDR2 on Stadia is what made me a gamer again. There are some really, really great titles in that list – all of which I’d love to see return to the cloud in an official capacity. Which ones are you missing most?
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100% on Red Dead. My first experience with that game was on Stadia and I fell in love with it there. and I agree with you on the latency with Celeste. Can’t think of a more charming game to test latency with.