What you need to know
- Four new games join Stadia Pro in January like Hotline Miami and F1 2020.
- Cthulhu Saves Christmas was just added today, free for Stadia Pro.
- Six games leave Pro if you haven't claimed them yet, like Celeste and Dead by Daylight.
- Three new games launched today on Stadia, including Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
Happy Holidays to all Stadia users! Today, Google dropped a bunch of headline-worthy news bits in its final This Week on Stadia blog post of 2020. The two most exciting bits of information are details regarding what's coming in January for free to Stadia Pro, as well as the new free Stadia Pro game that just hit the store today.
Starting on Jan, 1, 2021, all Stadia Pro users can claim and play four new games, all of which are already out on the platform currently to buy:
It's, frankly, not the most appealing month and a bit of a bummer to be kicking off a new year with a relatively lackluster line up, especially compared to Cyberpunk 2077. There's nothing wrong with these games, but they're all older games or very niche games (like F1) so hopefully there will be a few surprise additions later in the month like usual.
Additionally, Cthulhu Saves Christmas is suddenly launching on Stadia today. It's free for Pro subscribers ($10 without Pro) and features fast-paced simplistic JRPG combat in a story about the one-and-only Lovecraftian horror, Cthulhu, fighing against the League of Christmas Evil. Zeboyd Games has a unique brand of humor in its titles that should make for a whimsical treat this time of year. The Steam version of this game that launched last year has a 'Very Positive' rating as do most of their titles, so this is a nice surprise.
In less positive news six games are leaving the Pro service at the end of the year if you haven't claimed them yet. If you've already claimed them then they stay in your library as long as you're subscribed, but after December 31, 2020 new Pro subscribers will not get access to the many longer:
- Celeste
- Dead By Daylight
- Embr
- GYLT
- Risk of Rain 2
- Rock of Ages III
There are three new game launches on Stadia today as well. None of these games are included in Stadia Pro:
- Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ($4.94, discounted from $14.99)
- Enter the Gungeon ($14.99)
- Reigns ($2.99)
And finally, for one more bulleted list, there is a huge Christmas sale going for the Stadia store with some deep discounts. You can see every game on sale here. Some of the best deals include:
- Assassin's Creed Origins - Deluxe Edition ($13.99, discounted from $69.99)
- DOOM Eternal Delux Edition ($29.69, discounted from $89.99)
- GRID Ultimate Edition ($11.24, discounted from $44.99)
- Hitman 2 - Gold Edition ($29.99, discounted from $99.99)
- Octopath Traveler ($29.99, discounted from $59.99)
- Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order ($27.99, discounted from $69.99)
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor Edition ($19.79, discounted from $59.99)
A great way to start
This bundle includes everything you need to get started with Stadia. It includes the controller, a Stadia Controller Power Adapter, Google Chromecast Ultra, and a Google Chromecast Ultra Power Adapter with an Ethernet port. However, all you absolutely need as the bare minimum is a PC, laptop, or Chromebook with a web browser or smartphone compatible with the Stadia app.
