Here’s everything announced during the April 2020 Stadia Connect

Kyle Bradshaw | Apr 28 2020 - 9:00 am PT

Today, Google held its first “Stadia Connect” event since the platform launched in November, unveiling and even releasing a ton of new games. Here’s a quick rundown of everything announced during the April 2020 Stadia Connect.

If you hadn’t been following along with Google Stadia news last year, you may not be familiar with the idea of the “Stadia Connect” events. They’re essentially a chance for Google to simultaneously drop a variety of game and/or Stadia feature announcements, similar to a Nintendo Direct. The April 2020 Stadia Connect has put its sole focus on the games, announcing nine new titles, as well as release windows for some already known titles.

For the impatient types, the most exciting bits of news are the three new games you can start playing today. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (or PUBG), forerunner of the still-booming battle royale genre, is coming to the Stadia Store today, and our Abner Li has all the details, including what Stadia Pro members can claim for free. The long-anticipated First on Stadia title Get Packed, a hilarious co-op game about the best/worst moving crew that the world has ever seen, is also landing in the store today.

PUBG is available on Google Stadia today and free with Pro subscription

Arriving today alongside Get Packed and PUBG, you’ll also find Octopath Traveler, a Square Enix game with a unique “HD-2D” visuals and traditional JRPG gameplay that should feel familiar to fans of Final Fantasy. As the name vaguely suggests, Octopath Traveler neatly weaves together the stories of eight different protagonists to spin a grand tale in the world of Orsterra.

Ahead of Stadia’s launch, Electronic Arts was shown as one of the many companies partnering with Google to release games for the platform. Today, EA has finally announced its first slate of games for Stadia — Madden NFL, FIFA, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. This is, without a doubt, a huge boost to the quality of Stadia’s library. Be sure to check out our in-depth coverage of EA’s upcoming lineup.

Google Stadia adds EA titles starting w/ Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order this year

Next up on the docket from the April 2020 Stadia Connect are three new “First on Stadia” timed exclusives to look forward to — Crayta, Embr, and Wave Break. The most ambitious of these is Crayta, a platform on which to build games as well as play games that others have built. Crayta may look and feel familiar to some, as it’s based on the same Unreal Engine used by Fortnite.

Meanwhile, Embr, a bizarre game about being a terrible firefighter, will be arriving on May 21st as Stadia’s first-ever early access game, meaning it will not be in a finished state but instead a work in progress. Looking at the trailer though, Embr seems to already have a good foundation for hilarious gameplay.

Lastly, Google also used the April 2020 Stadia Connect unveil its slate of Stadia Pro games for the month of May. Among the three games, you’ll find another game making its Stadia debut, Zombie Army 4: Dead War, the latest entry in the series of spinoffs from the Sniper Elite franchise.

https://9to5google.com/2020/04/28/stadia-pro-may-2020-games/