Hm, I've just seen this article from The Verge, which mentions that Phil Harrison is sympathetic to games preservation concerns (which are part of what DRM-free is about):

https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/21/18275806/google-stadia-phil-harrison-interview-cloud-gaming-streaming-service-gdc-2019 [External Link]

Though his response doesn't sound like his is considering a real DRM-free option at the moment:

Another issue some critics of cloud gaming have raised in the wake of the Stadia announcement is around game preservation. Moving game software to the cloud means not only will it be harder for players to retain ownership of a product over time now that it’s both no longer on a disc and no longer even on your hard drive, but it could also make it much harder for games built just for the cloud to exist years or decades from now when the service has been upgraded or potentially shut down. Harrison says he’s sympathetic to that view:

I completely understand that concern. And I think it’s frankly no different than how games are on mobile today, and not really different to how users trust us today with the most precious thing in their life, which are their memories, with Google Photos. I think we would apply the same standards of care to our data going forward as we would to something like Google Photos. This is a moment in the game industry where technology opens up a whole new set of new capabilities for gamers and I would obviously focus on what those incredible advantages are. And that’s going to be our point of view of the future of games.

The article also mentions his take on Linux porting by the way.

At least if he is sympathetic, he might not dismiss the idea outright.

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Quoting: ShabbyXGoogle is huge, and so is the amount of feedback they get. Depends on the team, but they usually go through everything, even if they can't literally reply to everyone. Probably the first step would be to wait for launch, then submit feedback through whatever interface they have. Mind you, they could disagree with the suggestion or have it as low priority, but they won't be able to engage with you personally due to the massive amount of feedback they get.

Would it make sense to write straight to Stadia chief Phil Harrison about it? I doubt this kind of decision can be made without his involvement.

I've recently seen an interesting case, when one Linux user wrote directly to Intel CEO Robert Swan about frustrations with bluetooth on Lenovo E485 laptop, when using Intel wireless chip (in the end it was Lenovo's UEFI fault which they still didn't fix). And in response Intel engineers thoroughly investigated the issue and wrote a detailed response to him which he shared. I was pleasantly surprised how well Intel handled that. I guess sometimes CEOs don't ignore direct feedback.

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Quoting: ShabbyXActually thinking about it more, does it even make sense? If you have a game you bought but want to play on Stadia (having paid subscription fee):

- If the game runs on Stadia, it's likely already on Stadia's catalogue, which means you can play it regardless of having owned it.
- If the game doesn't run on Stadia, well it doesn't, you can't ask Stadia to run it.

That's the whole point of offering a DRM-free option. Currently game on Stadia is DRMed. To make any of them DRM-free, means to offer a downloadable version (I suppose it would mean adjustments like you said, to provide ability to run it on regular desktop Linux). Technical changes aside, it will simply make it possible to back up the game and run it without the service.

I already brought examples of other stores that do that, like Bandcamp for music. You could ask the same question, why offer downloads there, if you could just allow only streaming (Spotify-like).

If your question is, what value is there in having the ability to back things up, I think it's quite self explanatory, and the value ranges from games preservation to ability to use it without Internet connection and avoiding the risk of losing all your catalog if the service shuts down, or your account is simply closed for instance.

And if the question is, what's the value in the streaming use case, it's obvious too. You can play it while not having your high end rig with you, for example. I.e. both use cases have value, and the store can as well offer both. It's only when they are both provided, when the user isn't losing out.

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Quoting: etonbearsYou are adopting the narrow view of "network neutrality as monopolist tool" popular in the United States. I mean it in the wider sense of equality/restriction for any purpose.

You probably meant anti-monopolist tool, which net neutrality in part is. However I don't see this being very widely differently defined, given the author of the term is Tim Wu [External Link] who is a law professor in Columbia University. I'm pretty much using his original definition.

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Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - 60% off

For the fans of the genre, check also "Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive" which is 75% off and comes with a nice native Linux version:
https://www.gog.com/game/desperados_wanted_dead_or_alive [External Link]

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Quoting: Mohandevir... Like, let's say AT&T decides to launch it's own game streaming service and begins throttling all traffic going to and from Google Stadia. This is what Net Neutrality is worried about.

Or more likely, it won't count their service against their obnoxious data caps, while counting Stadia and others.

Which in the Stadia context brings the questinon, why did Google throw in the towel with their Google Fiber? They should have invested in it even more instead of abandoning, showing that services like Stadia could work when ISP is built the right way.

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Quoting: etonbearsWhich is one argument against net neutrality - you can't guarantee the quality of service you think you are paying for.

Network congestion due to load is not an argument against net neutrality. Net neutrality is about preventing deliberate traffic discrimination (such as for anti-competitive purposes). Managing the network due to congestion is fine according to the concept of net neutrality. Mind you, something like data caps is not a network management tool, it's users fleecing, anti-competitive trash. Limiting bandwidth when network is overloaded though is a legitimate network managing technique.

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Quoting: ShabbyXTo be clear, I'm not pro-DRM. Some points in your argument are valid, but did you watch the presentation? I think the point you missed when answering my question is that Stadia, being server-based has capabilities you *can't* get on your PC. If you have a squad of 6 people, there will be a huge strain on your network to stream their views while playing. Very-large-scale multiplayer will also have issues. It's not the GPU they use that makes Stadia special (not at all). It's the fact that instances of a multiplayer game talk through Google's internet backbone.

Sure, having a massive backend has its benefits. I think Stadia can be useful for some multiplayer games specifically (isn't it hinted in the name Stadia itself?), like MMORPGs and the like where server backend is essential. For such games to be fully preservable, it's not enough to just buy the game anyway, the server code must be open source, so it could be run independently. That's not so often found in MMORPGs. I.e. most of them are closed anyway, so service like Stadia doesn't really change things much for them in this regard.

Quoting: ShabbyXAnd your idea that you can buy a game, and have the option to stream it at a cost would be nice. Feel free to suggest it, who knows maybe it gets implemented at some point.

Any recommendation to whom send such proposal? Google isn't exactly known to be very open to external communication. I don't mind sending a suggestion, as long as it won't go to some usual stone wall of support.

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Quoting: GuestWell, if nothing else this might generate experience with Linux and Vulkan development among devs, as well as Vulkan adoption, significantly lowering the hurdles for future ports.

Yep, indirect and ecosystem (Linux / Vulkan and other FOSS) benefits is the good thing here. How many games we'll actually get on desktop Linux out of this remains to be seen.

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Some details on Stadia's hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/google-amd-custom-gpu-stadia-gaming,38865.html
[External Link]
They are using Vega based GPUs.

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