Grab a free Stadia Pro by pre-ordering the new 'Resident Evil'

The Resident Evil series is coming to Google’s Stadia platform in a big way. The tenth major game in the popular series, Resident Evil Village, will hit Stadia on May 7, 2021, the same day it releases for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. And if you purchase the game between now and May 21, you’ll even receive a free Stadia Premiere Edition — a $99.99 value.

Along with Village, Stadia will also soon be home to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the series’ last major release. The “gold” version of the 2017 hit will be free for all Stadia Pro players beginning on April 1, including access to Banned Footage Vol. 1 and 2 and two epilogue episodes.

Another major release on Stadia is great news for the don’t-call-it-a-console console’s community of still-dedicated fans. And that offer of a free Stadia Premiere Edition — worth more than the game itself — is sure to drive some sales for Google’s gaming sector.

Good, tall fun — Resident Evil Village is shaping up to be one of 2021’s biggest releases. It’s a direct continuation of the series’ main storyline, and the game is bringing back popular game-playing mechanics that made Resident Evil so popular in the first place. Chris Redsfield will be back, of course, and Capcom says he has some “seemingly sinister motives.”

But this wouldn’t be Resident Evil without introducing a few twists into the fold. One standout is a new villain from the game’s demo, who goes by the name of Lady Dimitrescu — demonic, bewitching, and nine feet six inches tall. Yes, she is nine and a half feet tall. Needless to say, the internet is already running wild with that one.

Grab that free console — As incredible as Resident Evil Village is shaping up to be, the free Stadia Premiere Edition is possibly even more exciting. The Premiere Edition comes with a Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra — a $100 value overall. So basically you pay $59.99 for the new game and the console package — which is more expensive — comes free. Hard to beat that. Google’s made it easy to purchase the package. Head to this link, click the “Pre-order on Stadia” button, and wait for an email with a redemption code for your free console.

Is Stadia fixable? — This is a really outstanding deal. If you’re looking to get into Stadia, this is really the most cost-effective way to do so.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that this is still Stadia. Google’s gaming sector has had a slow and steady fall from grace since its release in November 2019. And now that all the company’s in-house game developers have been fired, there’s no chance we’ll be seeing first-party Stadia games down the line.

You can see why we might be hesitant to recommend purchasing Stadia at this point. This being said, the service has been seen to run AAA titles very well, if you have a high-speed internet connection. Even Cyberpunk 2077 runs well on Stadia, and that game can barely run on PlayStation.

In this case, though, the Stadia is free. And it comes with a Chromecast, too.