- Google is giving away two months of free access to Stadia Pro during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Everyone with a Gmail account in 14 supported countries can sign up and play games on Stadia for free.
- Free Stadia Pro access began rolling out on Wednesday, and should be available to everyone in 48 hours.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but after work and during the weekends, I have been alternating between video calls with friends and family, binge-watching shows I thought I’d never get around to, and playing more video games than I have in months. But the percentage of my time spent gaming might increase in the coming weeks, as Google announced on Wednesday that it will make its Stadia Pro cloud gaming service free in 14 countries for the next two months. The offer begins rolling out today and should be available everywhere within 48 hours.
If you sign up for Stadia Pro, you’ll immediately be granted access to the service’s nine free games, including Destiny 2: The Collection, GRID, and Serious Sam Collection. You will also be able to buy games from the store that you can keep even if your two months run out and you decide to cancel your subscription. It’s also worth noting that anyone who is already paying for Stadia Pro won’t be charged for their next two months.
Here are the steps you need to take if you want to try Stadia Pro free for two months:
- Go to Stadia.com to sign up
- Download the Stadia app on Android or iOS
- Play on your laptop, desktop or Chrome OS tablet with your favorite (HID compliant) USB supported controller or mouse and keyboard
- Play over Wi-Fi on Pixel or many supported Android phones
You’ll need to enter a payment method to gain access to the perks of Stadia Pro, so be sure to cancel before the trial period runs out if you don’t want to eventually be charged $9.99 for a month’s subscription.
“With increased demand due to more people at home during this time, we’re taking a responsible approach to internet traffic,” Stadia VP Phil Harrison explained. “For Stadia, we’ve always adjusted bandwidth use based on a variety of in-home and local internet factors. To reduce load on the internet further, we’re working toward a temporary feature that changes the default screen resolution from 4k to 1080p. The vast majority of people on a desktop or laptop won’t notice a significant drop in gameplay quality, but you can choose your data usage options in the Stadia app.”
If you are having trouble signing up, remember that Google is just now rolling out free access to Stadia, so you might not be able to jump in right away. Personally, I was unable to sign up on the web or through the app, but by the end of the week, Stadia should be available to everyone in the 14 supported countries.
