Google to Give Free Stadia Hardware on a Stadia Game

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

The free Stadia Premier Edition offering 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 Google has given away free Stadia hardware. In November, Google began giving away Stadia Premiere Edition kits to premium YouTube subscribers. If you bought 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 the purchase of Resident Evil Village.

While Google insists that it is still committed to Stadia, the writing is on the wall about how long the service survives in its current form. Google decided earlier this year that it no longer wants to be a games company and it no longer wants to create its own games. That has led to a series of high-profile exits throughout 2021, including the departure of Google's chief games officer to fill a position on Google's cloud team last month. Google now defines Stadia as an "industry partner technology platform," meaning the service could eventually morph into a white-label cloud gaming service.

Despite Google's difficulties with Stadia, the service has improved this year. Google recently slashed its share of developer revenue, added a direct touchscreen control option, and also released Stadia for Chromecast with Google TV.