Google Stadia Releases With Two Of 2019's Fighting Games In Its Library

Mortal Kombat 11 and Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid are both coming to Google Stadia, as announced by Google in the days before EA Play and E3 2019's many press conferences. Google held a livestream to discuss Stadia, including revealing the list of over 30 games that will be available for purchase the day the cloud-based game streaming service releases.

Mortal Kombat 11 and Battle for the Grid are notable entries on that list because both are fighting games. Latency issues are one of the largest problems that cloud gaming must overcome, so Stadia's ability to effectively run both games will be a huge test as to whether Google's new service is up for the challenge.

Granted, Stadia is also launching with a game library that includes Doom, Doom Eternal, and several other fast-paced first-person shooters as well. However, many of these shooters are single-player. Mortal Kombat 11 and Battle for the Grid are online multiplayer-focused titles where the game needs to read multiple button inputs in rapid succession. Any latency issues will create unfair or unpleasant conditions. Google's decision to launch Stadia with both Mortal Kombat 11 and Battle for the Grid available on day one is a vote of confidence on the company's part.

Google Stadia launches in November 2019 via the Stadia Founder's Edition. The Edition comes with three months of Stadia Pro--normally a $10 USD / £9 a month subscription that lets you stream games up to 4K HDR at 60fps, gives you access to a select collection of free games, and offers a discount on all titles in Stadia's online store. You'll also get a bit more goodies in the Founder's Edition, such as a Buddy Pass for you to gift Stadia Pro to a friend for three months, an exclusive Stadia controller you can't buy anywhere else, and a Chromecast Ultra (allowing you to stream Stadia to your TV via an HDMI port).

A free version of Stadia, called Stadia Base, is coming in 2020.