Google Stadia early adopters are quickly losing patience with the game streaming platform due to a lack of updates. Two months after launch, Stadia is still missing many key features that were promised during the platform’s announcement in March 2019.

The only way to access Google Stadia’s services right now is to purchase the Stadia Premiere Edition.  Priced at $130, the Premiere edition comes with a Stadia gamepad, a Chromecast Ultra streaming device, and three months of Stadia “Pro” access - a monthly subscription service that enables ultra-HD 4K resolution and access to free games. Google has promised a free version of Stadia will launch this year but right now, paying $130 upfront remains the only way to play Stadia games. Now, due in part to a lack of communication from Google, many early adopters are wondering if Stadia is already a dead platform.

Business Insider reports that Stadia’s early adopters are starting to revolt against the platform, as evidenced by the many active negative threads in the Stadia subreddit community. “It feels like it’s died already,” said one user. “Here I am trying to enjoy and justify the $130 I spent on this and I just can’t at this point. We got tricked into being beta testers and it pisses me off.” Part of the problem is Stadia is not only missing promised features, but also ones that many expect to come standard with a modern gaming platform. For instance, there is currently no way to use voice chat on Stadia and the service lacks an operating system/dashboard.

Google has recently made strides to address early adopter complaints. The company published a large Stadia update to its community blog this past Thursday, promising a much bigger 2020 with “more than 120 games” scheduled to hit the service, over 10 of which will be exclusive to Stadia. In a statement to Business Insider, Google representative Patrick Seybold identified several ways his company has improved Stadia since launch. These include more games being added (26 titles currently), Google Assistant support, and the purchasing of a game studio.

While the promise of more games to come isn’t nothing, Google certainly has its hands full when it comes to doing damage control on Stadia. The fact that there is still no free tier is troubling, as it means there is still a significant barrier to entry for anyone who wants to try it without making a monetary commitment. While Stadia is still cheaper than a new console or PC, that $130 upfront cost quickly balloons after factoring in the cost of games. The platform still has potential but with early adopters already getting fed up and new consoles from Sony and Microsoft launching at the end of the year, Google will have a tough time preventing Stadia turning from a dying platform to a dead one.

Next: The Most Disappointing Video Games of 2019

Google Stadia is currently only available through the Stadia Premiere Edition.

Source: Business Insider