The reaction to services like Google Stadia has generally been one of apathy -- well, among our regular readers, at least. It seems most people just aren't ready to stream games, Netflix style. Whether that's down to concerns about connection speeds, the cost of entry, or simply the desire to outright own the games they play, we've noticed the majority of responses to cloud-based gaming services have been less than enthusiastic.
It seems this is the case when the scope is widened to a whole continent, too. GamesIndustry, along with research firm Ipsos MORI, conducted a survey among gamers living in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain, and the results are rather telling. A whopping 70 per cent of participants expressed disinterest in video game streaming services like Stadia. 15 per cent say they are interested, while the remainder either don't know or already use something similar, such as PlayStation Now.
According to the survey, the UK is the most interested, with nearly a quarter offering a positive response, while Germany is the least convinced with just 10 per cent interested in game streaming.
It's not made clear how many people took part in the survey, but it all makes for interesting reading regardless. As we've said, it's hard not to notice the lack of enthusiasm for an all-streaming future for games, and this goes some way to back that up. You can read more about the survey through here, if you're interested.
[source gamesindustry.biz, via resetera.com]
Comments 32
I was interested. I get 1gbps speeds, but the pricing of Stadia has put me right off.
You don't play games Netflix style with Stadia. You still have to buy the whole game. You just don't need hardware. If it was Netflix style it would be much better.
1. Why would you want to when these new consoles are likely able to match its performance anyway
2. We want to own our games so that they don't just disappear from existence
3. We simply don't trust most of these companies to rip us off, already Ubisoft are adding a subscription to Stadia which in turn needs a subscription to play the games you've already bought at high quality and no doubt EA and Activision would jump on that bandwagon
does this realy come as a suprise?
it's only the coropate figureheads that live in this all streaming bubble,thinking it is a feasible way for the majority of people to play games. untill they realise that they yet again thought way to far ahead and their gaming "system" gets the boot because streaming can't be THE future yet at all.
I like to own a disc really. Just like with Music to. I still buy Vinyl to(for Music that is not for Games) 21 years a PlayStation owner and I LOVE my PlayStation disc collection It can't be beaten by things you can't touch and feel and sniff and... I dread the day when it will be streaming/downloading only :-/
This is best for casual gamers who own fewer than 10 games and don't want to buy a $3000 gaming pc.
I’ve just subscribed to PS Now for the equivalent of £5 per month and for that price I’m quite happy with the curated titles on offer...currently playing Arkham Asylum for the umpteenth time...but it’ll not stop me buying games on day one that I’m genuinely interested in.
The only thing that would make the service better for me would be having access to digital titles that I’d purchased via PS3 as I no longer have one.
Sounds about right, how many years ago did digital make up only 1/4 of sales?
People always then talk about digital sales. No one I know and soooooo many people in these forums want physical but basically even physical games are digital downloads now. We have been forced into it. Add in stupid sales that mean you can spend a few quid and get game after game... loads of us love physical and still want physical but operate in the system we are forced to.
Digital games play same as physical - once downloaded...
I’m not interested in streaming because we are miles away from it being a good experience- games already take too long to get into this gen. much slower than last gen... but you know they are at least gonna load....
We have all been there on multiplayer when sessions fail or people lose connection - imagine when solo player and everything is like that.
No thanks.
Also games will become shorter smaller and more disposable as they all fight for a short term streaming buzz.
We don’t need streaming. We still have so many good experiences to have with the hardware we have. Everyone is always so quick to Ditch the current gen
@Carl-G amen. Spot on.
If it was a subscription like gamepass then sure, but paying 60 bucks for full priced games I don't own? Lol nope.
paying a monthly fee and still wanting us to pay per game and even then we don't own it nor have control over when it might become unavailable
I am not a collector but I don't like the idea of renting a game at full retail price. Then what happens to the people who pay for games on the stadia service but not enough people over all have the system and they shut down the service like is happening to servers for games on other systems. Seems way to risky for me personally.
When people talk about streaming, people think ala carte subscription like netflix, pay $10 for many movies, not stadia where users have to pay $60 for renting games that's can't be played if your internet is down or there are other people in the house that use youtube/downloading/using internet.
I don't know who is stadia target audience.
Putting aside the technical hurdles, which I think they can and will overcome in time, at least sufficiently enough to appease a large enough (majority) audience, and the idea of ownership which people will come to terms with eventually, the big challenge is going to be how they package it. People are rightly worried about this, what with apparently every manufacturer, publisher and developer all wanting a slice of the pie. People just won’t have a hundred different direct debits hammering away at their bank accounts each month.
I do hope they can find a way to make it a more attractive prospect. I suppose not worrying about making losses on hardware is one obvious saving they can pass on. But if they can make it a bit of a no brainier, like Spotify so obviously is, it could be a winner.
Next they'll be telling us we don't want microtransactions or pre-order bonuses.
the convenience of stadia is for casuals, most of the 'gamers' completing gaming surveys almost definitely are not casuals
@zazzy Complete Edition or Game of the Year Edition, Limited Run Games. 😆
And i dont want 50 different subscription without any ownership. EA said it already paying a subscription to get access to a game... 😐
Yeah **** streaming dont you love it when stuff gets removed on Netflix or with digital stores. 😤
A book lover has his collection of books. A marvel fan has his collection of comics. A stamp collector has his collection of stamps. A Gamer has his collection of physical games.
As far as I’m concerned, they can keep that crap out of the States too. I’m not the slightest bit interested. If I can’t run my games on dedicated hardware to avoid connection issues, stuttering, etc., then count me out. If this becomes the inevitable future of gaming, definitely count me out.
I've always been happy having a console and buying games, barely been paying attention to the streaming services as I think it's too soon for them based on internet speeds and a desire for as little lag as possible in the games I play most.
However my friend pointed out as an example, when the new Gears of War is on Microsoft's subscription thing we can pay like £10 for a month, play that one game and effectively save £40ish on buying the game properly, not to mention we can play it on PC since we don't have XBoxes.
I don't really see how this will be profitable for them but if streaming/subscriptions means super-cheap games then it'll really kick off.
@JesWood13 I agree with everything you say .word up son
But have no doubt the industry will essentially ignore this and force it upon us anyway.
Hell yeah we don't want streaming in anything.
Lol stadia is a joke... it's for casuals, and folks who don't have or use their brain... I only buy physical and digital under 15-20$. With the way collector's edition are coming now I hardly see this taking over. Oh and these companies releasing these special editions without the games, all a test run to try and sell the cow with no milk....
@FullbringIchigo its like they INSULT your intelligence by even offering that...
Can't see Stadia doing that well IMO, whose it's target audience? Assuming their target consumer doesn't want to buy a system, they would still need to obtain a compatible controller and purchase the game of their choice, not to mention a subscription if they want 4k, a compatible device to play their game on and an internet connection, still quite a few barriers to entry.
How I miss the days of just buying a console and putting the game in, no downloads or installs
It's encouraging that people don't like the idea, but no one wanted paid online either and now most people seem fine with being ripped off.
The day streaming takes over is the day I become a retro gamer only. There are already more games in existence than I could ever play, I can barely make it through my comically massive tower of ps4 games.
Glad to hear this news!! Physical or die!!! 😁
Give me a plastic box, a TV and a disc and I'm happy.
I will buy a PlayStation console every time over streaming.
I tried PS Now and it lagged like crazy on a decent fibre optic broadband connection. Streaming games is not that appealing for me at the moment
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...