The people who shelled out $129.99 for the Founder's Edition of Google Stadia have a less than exciting line-up of free games to look forward to in December, as both Farming Simulator 19 and 2014's Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition will be available to those with a Stadia Pro subscription.
The free version of Google Stadia is expected to roll out in 2020, but the people who purchase the Founder's Edition can access it now. The Founder's Edition came with a three-month subscription to Stadia Pro, which is necessary for people who want to stream their games at 4K HDR/60 FPS. The people who subscribe to Stadia Pro will also receive free games every month, in a similar manner to the games given to PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
The people who purchased the Founder's Edition can already claim Destiny 2: The Collection and Samurai Shodown. The official Stadia Twitter account has revealed that December's free games will be Farming Simulator 19 and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition.
It's extremely hard to get excited about either of these games. Farming Simulator 19 is part of one of the most niche series in gaming. The Farming Simulator series has a large and dedicated fanbase to be sure, but the majority of the gaming public has no interest in planting and maintaining crops. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is an excellent game, but it was released five years and it has been heavily discounted on every platform that it's available on. There have been many opportunities to purchase Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for five dollars on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One over the past few years.
The response to Google Stadia has been mixed and a lot of people have expressed buyer's remorse online, due to the limited library of games at launch and all of the features that are not available yet, some of which weren't mentioned by Google until shortly before release. Google needs to impress the people who purchased the Founder's Edition if they want to keep them as customers and free copies of a niche game and a five-year-old Tomb Raider title won't be enough.
Source: Stadia/Twitter