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Google and BT partner to offer customers free Stadia Premiere with broadband deal

UK residents can sign up until January 30th

Date Type Companies involved Size
January 17th, 2020 partnership BT Group
Google
Not disclosed
Google and BT partner to offer customers free Stadia Premiere with broadband deal

Google has teamed with UK telecommunications provider BT to offer customers that sign up to selective broadband deals a free Stadia device.

The new deal makes BT Stadia's first European distribution partner and will see the two companies collaborate on initiatives designed to build awareness of the technology, as well as delivery of the game streaming service.

Stadia will utilise BT's Superfast broadband 2 services, which according to the provider, is six times faster than the average speed in the UK.

Customers that purchase one of BT’s Superfast Fibre 2, Ultrafast Fibre 100 or Ultrafast Fibre 250 will then receive a free Stadia Premiere Edition, including a Stadia controller, Chromecast Ultra and three months of Stadia Pro.

The bundle is available now and will run until January 30th, before another similar deal takes its place on February 7th, 2020.

"Push the limits"

"We continually look to provide our customers with the most exciting products and experiences, and by partnering with Google on Stadia, we’re able to help them push the limits of gaming," said BT consumer division CEO Marc Allera.

"We’re also investing in the UK’s fastest 4G, 5G and fibre networks, so our superfast home broadband service is the perfect accompaniment for those wanting to make the most from this innovative streaming gaming platform".

BT has been moving into more game territory as of late, with the telecommunications provider signing a multi-year contract with Excel Esports to help promote esports competitions as well as being worn on the team's kit.

Google also revealed that it plans on releasing more than 120 games in 2020 for Stadia, with 10 of them being timed exclusives to the platform. Subsequently, this means Google is paying publishers to hold back on launching games on other consoles and PC, something that the Epic Games Store has been doing since its inception.

Since launching in November, Stadia has seen its mobile downloads reduce by half with users on Google Play making up the majority of installs.

Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.