Google gives LG TV owners three free months of Stadia Pro

By Phil Nickinson Published August 4, 2022

Google and LG today announced that they’re giving three months of access to Stadia Pro to new and existing owners of LG TVs.

Stadia is Google’s cloud-based gaming service that works with various devices such as LG televisions, Chromecast with Google, and other supported hardware. There’s nothing to plug in — you just pair a controller and get things going with the Stadia app on your phone, and you’re good to go.

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Stadia itself is free — you just buy the games. Stadia Pro costs $10 a month and ramps things up with discounts on some titles — and others made free altogether. It also unlocks 4K resolution at 60 frames per second and 5.1 surround sound with HDR.

Google Stadia on an LG TV. — Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

There is a little fine print here, of course. While the deal is open to anyone who has an LG TV running WebOS 5.0 or higher, you’ll need to be a new subscriber to Stadia Pro. You’ll also need to take advantage of the deal from August 10, 2022, to January 31, 2023. The deal will be visible within the LG Content Store on your TV. Scan a QR code and take care of things on your phone, and you’ll be on your way.

Stadia has more than 250 games available to purchase. Everything is streamed over the Internet — which means you’ll want to make sure you’ve got some decent speed — and there are no long loading times or multi-gigabyte game updates to wait on.

LG, meanwhile, has some of the best TVs you can buy in 2022, including the incredible LG G2 Gallery Series OLED TV. How good? From our review: “The LG G2 is an absolutely remarkable, jaw-droppingly gorgeous TV to behold, and it earns every cent of its asking price. For those looking for a premium home entertainment experience, the LG G2 OLED Evo TV is one of the best options on the market today.”

In other words, the perfect platform for three months free of Stadia Pro.

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Gaming

Ubisoft and more offer ways to play purchased Google Stadia games elsewhere

The protagonist of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla shouting in battle and wielding two axes.

Google recently announced that it plans to shutter its cloud gaming service Stadia in early 2023, leaving players who used it as one of their primary platforms in an awkward situation. Google already promised to refund people for their Google Stadia hardware and software purchases, but people are still losing access to games they enjoyed and save files they possibly dumped hours into. Thankfully, some developers are working on ways to help Stadia players.
The most notable studio to help Stadia players is Ubisoft, which was Google's earliest partner for the technology via an Assassin's Creed Odyssey demo. "While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect," Ubisoft tweeted. "We'll have more to share regarding specific details, as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers, at a later date." Thankfully, the Stadia versions of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion support cross-progression, so players won't lose their save files.
https://twitter.com/UbisoftSupport/status/1575922767593078793
Ubisoft isn't the only developer to help. Developer Muse Games is giving Embr Steam codes to those who played its comedic co-op firefighting game on Stadia if they email the developer with screenshots of Embr in their Stadia library. Meanwhile, IO Interactive confirmed that it is "looking into ways for you to continue your Hitman experience on other platforms," as the World of Assassination trilogy was available on Google Stadia.
There's still the matter of the five Google Stadia exclusives: Gylt, Hello Engineer, Outcasters, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, and PixelJunk Raiders. So far, only one of those games seems like it will be saved. PixelJunk Raiders developer Q-Games said in a blog post that "we hope to find a way to continue to share the vibrant worlds of Planet Tantal in the future, and we’re open to discussing opportunities to find the right publishing partner to make it happen.. Tequila Works, tinyBuild, Splash Damage, and Bandai Namco Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment from Digital Trends.
While the shutdown of Google Stadia is disappointing for players like myself who enjoy cloud gaming, at least players will be get refunds, and in some cases get the game for a new platform.

Gaming

This wireless workaround will give your Google Stadia controller new life

google stadia release date november 19 controller pax west 1 2

Google announced yesterday that it will shut down Stadia in January. The good news is that refunds will be given to everyone who bought all Stadia hardware, including its controller, so long as they bought it from the Google Store. You don't have to return the controller to get the refund (see the platform's FAQ page), but it doesn't have to go to waste just because Stadia is shutting down.

Users in the Stadia subreddit have been asking Google to make the firmware for the Stadia controller open source so that it would work on PC and consoles even after its namesake platform has been put out to pasture (per Eurogamer). Though Google won't be able to do that in an official capacity anytime soon, software engineer Parth Shah created a workaround tool that allows players to use the controller wirelessly over Wi-Fi.

Gaming

Google Stadia shutting down in January and users are getting full refunds

Google Stadia controller.

After three years, Google Stadia is coming to an end. The Silicon Valley giant announced that the cloud-streaming platform will be going offline on January 18, 2023.

In a blog post published on Thursday, Phil Harrison, Stadia's vice president and general manager, said the company made the difficult decision to shut down Stadia because the cloud-streaming service hasn't "gained the traction with users" that it expected since its launch in 2019. This is despite the developed technology that allowed players to play demos from YouTube videos on their favorite games and then purchase them later, no console required.