The late-2020 gaming rush is now upon us, which means the gaming release schedule is now really heating up ahead of the busy holiday period. September 2020 has seen a major rival come from Amazon and yet more incremental updates and improvements to Stadia, while more important games have hit the service too!
About Stadia ‘Save State’: This is our overview of all the updates, upgrades, and potential pitfalls for Google’s game streaming platform over the previous month. We also decompile the latest versions of the Stadia application and dig into the code online to better understand where Stadia is headed. Expect opinion, information, and speculation on all things Google Stadia, the games, and everything in-between.
September new releases
Another month has passed by, which means another set of new Stadia titles to start streaming. Last month saw a slight lull in “new” games, but now we are steadily hitting the usual late-fall rush right ahead of the busy holiday gaming season. So as frustrating as it is — and it now appears to be customary — we’ve seen another wave of re-runs and re-releases of classic and older titles on Stadia throughout September 2020.
The cult Indie gaming hit Hotline Miami and it’s visceral 2D sequel Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number have batted their way onto Stadia, allowing you to clobber your way through the Russian mafia as “Jacket” — the silent main protagonist.
Dunk on your friends in basketball sim NBA2K21, which has joined fellow 2K sports title PGA Tour on the cloud gaming platform. Weirdly, while it’s “21” — to denote the current season — it’s in fact the 22nd title in the 2K basketball franchise.
After what feels like a long wait, September 2020 saw the Stadia release that allows comic book fans to step into the shoes of Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, the Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, Captain America, and Thor right now in one of the most entertaining comic book tie-ins to date.
République started life on iOS way back in 2013 but has since broken Apple’s mobile OS chains and found itself on a multitude of platforms which now includes Stadia. The stealth game takes inspiration from classic titles such as Metal Gear Solid, with some neat twists on the old formula.
Real “wrastlin” fans can also enjoy the over-the-top action of WWE 2K Battlegrounds, which is a return to a caricature-style of brawler games. You can grapple your way through the current WWE roster with some notable Hall of Famers including The “Rattlesnake” Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, The Rock, plus many more.
Those titles we also joined by the fourth in the Serious Sam franchise, which sees you shooting your way through hordes of aliens and beasts in a bid to save planet earth. The final new addition for September 2020 is classic card game Uno.
Overall, September 2020 saw a reasonable eight new titles come to Stadia including:
- Hotline Miami
- Hotline Miami is a high-octane action game overflowing with raw brutality, hard-boiled gunplay, and skull crushing close combat. Set in an alternative 1989 Miami, you will assume the role of a mysterious antihero on a murderous rampage against the shady underworld at the behest of voices on your answering machine. Soon you’ll find yourself struggling to get a grip of what is going on and why you are prone to these acts of violence.
- Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
- Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is the brutal conclusion to the Hotline Miami saga, set against a backdrop of escalating violence and retribution over spilled blood in the original game. Follow the paths of several distinct factions – each with their own questionable methods and uncertain motivations – as unforeseen consequences intersect and reality once again slips back into a brilliant haze of neon and bloodshed.
- Marvel’s Avengers
- Marvel’s Avengers is an epic, third-person, action-adventure game that combines an original, cinematic story with single-player and co-operative gameplay. Assemble into a team of up to four players online, master extraordinary abilities, customize a growing roster of Heroes, and defend the Earth from escalating threats.
- NBA 2K21
- NBA 2K21 is the latest title in the world-renowned, best-selling NBA 2K series, delivering an industry-leading sports video game experience. With extensive improvements upon its best-in-class graphics and gameplay, competitive and community online features, and deep, varied game modes, NBA 2K21 offers one-of-a-kind immersion into all facets of NBA basketball and culture – where Everything is Game.
- République
- Developed over five years by industry veterans (Metal Gear Solid, Halo, F.E.A.R.), République is a thrilling and topical stealth-action game that explores the perils of government surveillance in the Internet Age. You receive a call from Hope, a woman trapped inside a mysterious totalitarian state. By hacking into the nation’s elaborate surveillance network and taking control, you guide Hope through a web of danger and deception across five thrilling episodes.
- Serious Sam 4
- Serious Sam 4 reignites the classic FPS series in a high-powered prequel loaded with an explosive arsenal, intergalactic carnage, and perfectly timed one-liners.
- Uno
- One of the most iconic classic games which we all grew to know and love! UNO makes its return with an assortment of exciting new features such as added video chat support and an all-new theme system which adds more fun! Match cards either by matching color or value and play action cards to change things up. Race against others to empty your hand before everyone else in either Classic play or customize your experience with a variety of House Rules and match settings to ensure you and your friends never play the same game twice! Also, get ready to shake things up with new branded themes introducing never-before-seen Theme Cards that really change the way you play the game!
- WWE 2K Battlegrounds
- The world of WWE is your battleground with all-new, over the top, in-your-face arcade action as your favorite WWE Superstars and Legends battle it out in outlandish interactive environments around the world. Compete in your favorite match types with an arsenal of exaggerated maneuvers, special abilities, and devastating power-ups, including Steel Cage, Royal Rumble, Fatal Four Way, and more, as Mauro Ranallo and Jerry “The King” Lawler call all the mayhem! Are you ready to enter the battleground?
Stadia Pro: Upcoming games for October
Stadia Pro members will get a total of six games as part of their premium membership for October 2020. The “free” titles as part of your monthly subscription fee will include the following from October 1, 2020:
- Celeste
- Dead by Daylight
- Human: Fall Flat
- Jotun
- Lara Croft: Temple of Osiris
- Superhot: Mind Control Delete
Be sure to claim the September free titles. You should still be able to grab Super Bomberman R Online, Gunsport, Hitman, Hello Neighbour, Metro Last Light Redux, and early-access title Embr all as part of your $8.99 per month subscription fee.
Three more titles are leaving the Stadia Pro tier in October, including Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, The Turing Test, and Metro 2033 Redux. The count will now stand at 29 titles after these additions and subtractions:
GYLT, Destiny 2: The Collection, SteamWorld Dig 2, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, Superhot, Little Nightmares, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Panzer Dragoon: Remake, West of Loathing, Crayta, Orcs Must Die! 3, Strange Brigade, Just Shapes & Beats, Rock of Ages 3: Make and Break, Super Bomberman R Online, Gunsport, Hitman, Hello Neighbor, Metro Last Light Redux, Embr, Dead by Daylight, Human: Fall Flat, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE, Lara Croft: Temple of Osiris, Celeste, and Jotun
Google Stadia: New features added in September 2020
Stadia of iOS support (sort of)
If you’ve been keeping an eye on Stadia fans for the past few weeks, you might be aware that iOS 14 makes it possible to run Stadia through an iOS web browser. By tricking the user agent and heading to Stadia’s web app, playing games is indeed possible on an iPhone or iPad. It’s just… well, it’s a pain in the butt.
Using a modified web browser you can get Stadia running on iOS, but it can’t recognize the controller you’re using so you’ll have to use some nous to use your gamepad of choice.
Safari support for the Google Stadia controller in beta
Even though Apple is still digging in its heels over allowing game streaming on iOS, it has still added support for the Google Stadia controller with Safari in beta just before the close of September 2020. This could hint at Google bringing Stadia to iOS as a web app, but for now, this only applies to the desktop version of Safari.
Portrait mode sign-in removed from Stadia on Android TV
While a dedicated Stadia Android TV app is still missing, the latest version 2.32 build has now removed the forced portrait sign-in when sideloading the app onto your streaming box. This makes the sign-in process a little neater and more consistent with your TV UI.
Upcoming features
As is customary, you can count on us to spend some serious time diving deep into the Google Stadia Android app. It wouldn’t be fair to keep our findings to ourselves, especially when we find upcoming and experimental features will likely be heading to the platform soon. Here are the biggest upcoming or most notable additions to Google Stadia that we found in September 2020:
UPlay+ integration
With the release of Stadia 2.32, Google seems to have put the finishing touches in place for messaging to officially launch, as well as UPlay+, a better recruitment system, and more. To be clear, UPlay+ has not been added to the Stadia store as of September 2020. It does look like it will come as a new category of games on the online storefront at some point in the not-too-distant future though.
Stadia Community Forum
The Stadia Community Forum is a hotbed of official Stadia news, but this month, Google detailed account linking on the online community. When enabled, you’ll be able to link your account and Stadia Founders will get a special badge with added “Founders Hub” exclusive Q&As plus more.
Our latest Google Stadia reviews
Games announced for Google Stadia in September 2020
Looking ahead, we’re still a long way from a “large” library of game titles to choose from, but there were quite a few announcements of games coming to Stadia in the future throughout September 2020. We’re expecting yet more announcements of games coming to the streaming platform now that a direct rival has been announced by Amazon — in the form of Luna.
Here’s the full list of games joining Stadia with release timeframes where noted:
- Ary and the Secret of Seasons
- Cake Bash
- Death Carnival
- Fenyx Rising
- Figment: Creed Valley
- Kaze and the Wild Masks
- PHOGS!
- Riders Republic
- Risk of Rain 2
- Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
- The Darkside Detective
- The Darkside Detective 2
- Tohu
What have you been playing on Google Stadia throughout September 2020?
Are you an avid Stadia player? Let us know what you’ve been enjoying on the platform throughout the month. Also, what are you looking forward to the most? Let us know down in the comments section below.
More on Google Stadia:
- Doom is now available for Google Stadia
- Stadia ‘State of Play’ July 2020: This month in Google Stadia [Video]
- Google adds six Stadia Pro games for September 2020
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