6 ms·

It's not like the proposition is good from user point of view either. You "buy" a right to rent games, which right can be terminated by google for any reason, o

It's not like the proposition is good from user point of view either. You "buy" a right to rent games, which right can be terminated by google for any reason, or no reason at all. Even if you really bought a game and google would give it back to you when they inevitably shut down the service, you still wouldnt be able to play it, since the whole point of stadia is to not own the hardware.

creshal 5y ago
Steam is a rent model too, but nobody seems to mind. It helps that Steam also works offline, or on an alleged DSL connection out in the sticks, or when you're visiting your parents who still have the same awful wifi router you told them to get replaced 15 years ago, or …
- dvdkon 5y ago
  The main difference to me is that Steam is an established platform with a reputation for not pulling games for no reason and also the fact that there's always "extralegal" ways to play that same game if Steam does pull it. That's not the case with streaming-exclusive games (and sometimes iOS games, sadly).
  - WesleyHale 5y ago
    Exactly, and steam isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I don't have to worry more about the game itself becoming dated or unsuccessful and pulling down their servers way before Steam decides does.
  - cocoricamo 5y ago
    And if my memory serves me right you can still download games that are in your library but not available in the store anymore.
- tomc1985 5y ago
  It's a licensing model, not a rental model. You're not paying anybody a monthly fee to play, you have all the files locally, and the threshold for revoking your license or otherwise losing access to a title is extremely high. Even games with components that have expired licenses are kept on the account, your access is never really revoked -- even a VAC ban won't lose you your library. You can't mod a Stadia game...
- Kuinox 5y ago
  Steam is not a rent model. Steam recently got sued because you couldn't resell your games, nor your account. You are now allowed to sell your steam account because you owe the games.
- 41b696ef1113 5y ago
  >Steam is a rent model too, but nobody seems to mind. Ehh, I prefer to buy from GOG when I can for that exact reason.
- ergot_vacation 5y ago
  Steam is explicitly NOT a rental model. You buy games, and then you have them, on your hard drive, to play whenever you like. You could be banned from Steam, Gabe could personally make a youtube video telling you to fuck off, and you could still start up Steam in offline mode and play all the games just fine. The only thing you could THEORETICALLY lose is the ability to re-download games in your library, but to my knowledge this has never happened aside from accounts getting hacked etc. Stadia, meanwhile, works like Netflix. Stop paying, or just anger the Stadia gods in some way, and all your games go away. I like owning things I pay for. Many other people do to. So it's gratifying to see that this one time, we don't have to have our rights trampled on. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
  - csunbird 5y ago
    Actually, after a while being in the offline mode, Steam will ask you to go online, as far as I know.
    - fragileone 5y ago
      Asks or forces? Because as far as I'm aware you can play offline indefinitely.
      - csunbird 5y ago
        Depends on the game. Some games with DRM wants (requires) to call back home after a while.
  - kevingadd 5y ago
    It's technically possible for Valve to pull access to your entire library and games that use Steamworks DRM will no longer work in that circumstance, but as far as I know it's very rare for them to do it at this point. They used to do it if you issued a chargeback, but they had to stop doing that since it was in violation of various government and payment processor policies.
  - tokai 5y ago
    Haven't tried a game on steam that couldn't be opened without steam running. Just go to the games folder and run the executable.
- anonymousab 5y ago
  > Steam is a rent model too, but nobody seems to mind. A long time ago, there was an official statement to the effect of "if steam goes down, we'll release a patch to unlock your games" or something to that effect. I think that was before third parties could even sell on Steam. Could also be apocryphal, or photoshopped emails and screencaps and the like. It almost certainly doesn't hold true today. But at the very least, you can download your steam games today, and if it shuts down at some point in the future, you can modify or crack those local files and executables to be playable; multiplayer systems notwithstanding. There's a path forward. With Stadia games, there is nothing without original publisher or developer intervention.
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  Steam doesn't require me to pay several hundred dollars a month to have an internet speed fast enough to play a game without lag. I just run it on a piece of hardware I already own anyways.
  - deadmutex 5y ago
    There are also people who don't have the hardware to play latest games like Cyberpunk, but live in an area with a good internet connection.
- drivingmenuts 5y ago
  I think it’s more the case that Steam is a known quantity by both players and developers. There aren’t many surprises ther and Steam hews closely to its core competencies. The few times they’ve tried to expand their horizons, there’s been noise, but it soon fizzled and they went back to what they do best.
symlinkk 5y ago
No different than Steam
- anoncake 5y ago
  Maybe in principle. But Steam is Valve's cash cow and very unlikely to be cancelled anytime soon. Stadia is a Google product.

creshal 5y ago

Steam is a rent model too, but nobody seems to mind. It helps that Steam also works offline, or on an alleged DSL connection out in the sticks, or when you're visiting your parents who still have the same awful wifi router you told them to get replaced 15 years ago, or …

dvdkon 5y ago
The main difference to me is that Steam is an established platform with a reputation for not pulling games for no reason and also the fact that there's always "extralegal" ways to play that same game if Steam does pull it. That's not the case with streaming-exclusive games (and sometimes iOS games, sadly).
- WesleyHale 5y ago
  Exactly, and steam isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I don't have to worry more about the game itself becoming dated or unsuccessful and pulling down their servers way before Steam decides does.
- cocoricamo 5y ago
  And if my memory serves me right you can still download games that are in your library but not available in the store anymore.
tomc1985 5y ago
It's a licensing model, not a rental model. You're not paying anybody a monthly fee to play, you have all the files locally, and the threshold for revoking your license or otherwise losing access to a title is extremely high. Even games with components that have expired licenses are kept on the account, your access is never really revoked -- even a VAC ban won't lose you your library. You can't mod a Stadia game...
Kuinox 5y ago
Steam is not a rent model. Steam recently got sued because you couldn't resell your games, nor your account. You are now allowed to sell your steam account because you owe the games.
41b696ef1113 5y ago
>Steam is a rent model too, but nobody seems to mind. Ehh, I prefer to buy from GOG when I can for that exact reason.
ergot_vacation 5y ago
Steam is explicitly NOT a rental model. You buy games, and then you have them, on your hard drive, to play whenever you like. You could be banned from Steam, Gabe could personally make a youtube video telling you to fuck off, and you could still start up Steam in offline mode and play all the games just fine. The only thing you could THEORETICALLY lose is the ability to re-download games in your library, but to my knowledge this has never happened aside from accounts getting hacked etc. Stadia, meanwhile, works like Netflix. Stop paying, or just anger the Stadia gods in some way, and all your games go away. I like owning things I pay for. Many other people do to. So it's gratifying to see that this one time, we don't have to have our rights trampled on. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
- csunbird 5y ago
  Actually, after a while being in the offline mode, Steam will ask you to go online, as far as I know.
  - fragileone 5y ago
    Asks or forces? Because as far as I'm aware you can play offline indefinitely.
    - csunbird 5y ago
      Depends on the game. Some games with DRM wants (requires) to call back home after a while.
- kevingadd 5y ago
  It's technically possible for Valve to pull access to your entire library and games that use Steamworks DRM will no longer work in that circumstance, but as far as I know it's very rare for them to do it at this point. They used to do it if you issued a chargeback, but they had to stop doing that since it was in violation of various government and payment processor policies.
- tokai 5y ago
  Haven't tried a game on steam that couldn't be opened without steam running. Just go to the games folder and run the executable.
anonymousab 5y ago
> Steam is a rent model too, but nobody seems to mind. A long time ago, there was an official statement to the effect of "if steam goes down, we'll release a patch to unlock your games" or something to that effect. I think that was before third parties could even sell on Steam. Could also be apocryphal, or photoshopped emails and screencaps and the like. It almost certainly doesn't hold true today. But at the very least, you can download your steam games today, and if it shuts down at some point in the future, you can modify or crack those local files and executables to be playable; multiplayer systems notwithstanding. There's a path forward. With Stadia games, there is nothing without original publisher or developer intervention.
bluefirebrand 5y ago
Steam doesn't require me to pay several hundred dollars a month to have an internet speed fast enough to play a game without lag. I just run it on a piece of hardware I already own anyways.
- deadmutex 5y ago
  There are also people who don't have the hardware to play latest games like Cyberpunk, but live in an area with a good internet connection.
drivingmenuts 5y ago
I think it’s more the case that Steam is a known quantity by both players and developers. There aren’t many surprises ther and Steam hews closely to its core competencies. The few times they’ve tried to expand their horizons, there’s been noise, but it soon fizzled and they went back to what they do best.

symlinkk 5y ago

No different than Steam

anoncake 5y ago
Maybe in principle. But Steam is Valve's cash cow and very unlikely to be cancelled anytime soon. Stadia is a Google product.