Google will give you free Stadia hardware if you buy a game - The Verge

Google is giving away a free Stadia Premiere Edition kit if you purchase a regular Stadia game. This hardware bundle includes a Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller, and you'll need to buy a full price game ($59.99 or above) to qualify for the offer. Google's free offer will run until 11:59PM PT on October 10th, and codes will be distributed by October 20th.

The free Stadia Premier Edition offer will run in the US, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Austria, and Switzerland. Google usually sells its Stadia Premiere Edition for $79.99.

This isn't the first time that Google has given away free Stadia hardware. In November Google started gifting Stadia Premiere Edition kits to YouTube premium subscribers. If you purchased Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia during its launch period in November, Google also gave away Stadia Premiere Edition kits. More recently, Google also gave away this same hardware bundle with purchases of Resident Evil Village.

While Google insists it's still committed to Stadia, the writing is on the wall for how long the service survives in its current form. Google decided earlier this year that it doesn't want to be a game company anymore, and it no longer wants to build its own games. That's led to a number of high profile departures throughout 2021, including Google's director of games leaving for a position in Google's cloud team last month. Google now defines Stadia as a "technology platform for industry partners," which means the service could eventually transform into a white-label cloud gaming service.

Despite Google's Stadia struggles, the service has been improving this year. Google recently slashed its revenue share for developers, added a direct touchscreen control option, and also launched Stadia for the Chromecast with Google TV.

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