I think the tech that allows Google to measure the use of its infrastructure in the way they're doing here might be a part of the strategy for Stadia (stadia.go

I think the tech that allows Google to measure the use of its infrastructure in the way they're doing here might be a part of the strategy for Stadia (stadia.google.com). Pricing info was conspicuously missing from Google's Stadia introduction, and I've been wondering if Google's use-based cloud billing model could work if it were just passed on to the user - bill the user (or player) to the minute or even to the second. Deals could be structured so publishers get a cut of fees that are tied how long players want to play the game. Billing individual seconds of gameplay would be a radical shift in the incentives that drives how games are designed and distributed. Not to mention how you play games and pay for them. Perhaps there would be a small base monthly fee but also, perhaps not. High-performing flagship titles could bill players at 3-4 cents a minute, while less popular or less computationally demanding games could be a significant fraction of that. And streamers that are successful enough will see Google paying them to play. This certainly feeds Google, but it also ties publisher revenue to the playtime their titles get. I'm sure there are pros and cons to that, but it's interesting. So is the potential opportunity for players to have a chance at a piece of the action too if streaming is monetizable. All this, by effectively _removing_ a layer of pricing abstraction. Of course, Stadia has to work first. But even if it's not from Google I think something like this is coming.