Google expands today’s Stadia’s launch lineup to 22 games [Updated]

[Update (Nov. 18): Late Sunday night, Google announced that ten games that were originally planned for a post-launch 2020 release will actually be available on Stadia later today. They are:

• Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle
• Farming Simulator 19
• Final Fantasy XV
• Football Manager 2020
• Grid (2019)
• Metro Exodus
• NBA 2K20
• Rage 2
• Trials Rising
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood

This brings the Stadia launch day lineup up to 22 titles. Borderlands 3, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Dragon Ball: Xenoverse and Darksiders Genesis are still planned for Stadia release sometime this year. In addition, Ubisoft's Watch Dogs: Legion and Gods & Monsters are planned to launch on Stadia in 2020.

Google also announced that fighting game Samurai Shodown will be included as part of November's Stadia Pro subscriber freebies.]

Original story

Today, Google announced 12 games that will be available for individual purchase and streaming when Founders Edition pre-orderers get their hands on Google Stadia starting November 19. The games are:

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Destiny 2: The Collection (included with Stadia Pro subscription)
• Gylt
• Just Dance 2020
• Kine
• Mortal Kombat 11
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Samurai Shodown (included with Stadia Pro subscription)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
• Thumper
• Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
• [See update above for late additions to this list]

Fourteen additional titles are promised to launch on Stadia before the end of 2019:

• Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle*
• Borderlands 3*
• Darksiders: Genesis*
• Dragonball Xenoverse 2
• Farming Simulator 19*
• Final Fantasy XV*
• Football Manager 2020*
• Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
• Grid (2019)*
• Metro Exodus*
• NBA 2K20*
• Rage 2*
• Trials Rising*
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood*
• [* - added to launch lineup Sunday night]

A number of legacy titles that were previously promised as part of the Stadia "launch window" are currently not included in Google's list of 2019 Stadia releases. Those include:

• The Crew 2
• Destroy All Humans
• Doom (2016)
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• Superhot
• Windjammers 2

Major publishers Capcom and EA are also absent from Stadia's current planned 2019 lineup, though both were listed as participating in Stadia's "launch window" as recently as August. Google has not yet responded to a request for comment on those omissions. [Update: A Google spokesperson told Ars that "'launch window' conveyed the first few months after launch.  What we announced today was the first 6 weeks."]

A handful of other unreleased titles that were promised for the Stadia launch window have simply been delayed into 2020. Those include:

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Doom Eternal
• Get Packed (Stadia exclusive)
• Orcs Must Die 3 (timed Stadia exclusive)

Of the 26 titles planned for Stadia release this year, Tequila Works' horror game Gylt is the only one that won't be available on other platforms concurrently (though Google has an internal development studio working on more exclusives in the coming months and years). Darksiders: Genesis is due to launch simultaneously on PC and Stadia on December 5.

Looking at the 24 remaining 2019 Stadia games, 15 were first released on other platforms sometime in 2019, and five more were first released in 2018. The list of 2018 releases includes Farming Simulator 19, even though an updated "2020" version of the franchise is due for release on other platforms December 3. And while Football Manager 2020 will also be launching on other platforms November 19, developer Sports Interactive has said the Stadia version will offer "the fastest way to experience Football Manager" thanks to Google's cloud data centers.

At launch, Stadia is only available via the purchase of a $130 bundle that includes a Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra for TV play. A free tier, which does not require a separate hardware purchase or a $10/month "Stadia Pro" subscription, is planned for next year.

Listing image by Google