New Stadia Release is More Expensive than the Steam Version

Stadia continues to struggle along. Last we heard about the budding game streaming platform, Google had told its audience that more games were coming, but it was up to the individual studios to reveal them and build up hype. And if you were hoping that this latest bit of news would finally bring some value to the Stadia, well…

The good news is that one of those apparently 120 new games was revealed to be Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 3, which launched on multiple platforms earlier this week. So it’s not exactly a Stadia exclusive, and it is an obnoxious exercise in selling a brand we haven’t seen since the days of Pepsi Man, but apparently it’s not terrible (at least, according to Metacritic), so Stadia subscribers technically do have one more thing to celebrate. Even if it is a little… underwhelming.

But here’s the bad news: if you wanted to get Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 3 on Steam, you’d have to slap down $50 for it. If you decided to get it on the Google Stadia, however… it’d cost you a fat $60. A full $10 more to be reminded that Monster Energy is the best way to supercharge your day… or whatever it is they’re using as a pitch these days.

And it’s not like there’s more or exclusive features on the Stadia version. It just… costs more on that platform.

Apparently this isn’t the first time this has happened, other games – like Final Fantasy XV and Farming Simulator – cost more on the Stadia than they do on Steam, but in this era where Stadia needs to find more ways to bring value to their users, it looks especially bad now.

What Stadia needs is a way to revitalize – no, re-energize itself. If only there was a delicious way to do that…