Square Enix’s Outriders Released On Google Stadia

The games studio that collaborated with Epic Games, on iconic titles like Gears of War, People Can Fly,  on the 1st of April, released their newest title on mobile-based game streaming platform, Google Stadia. Published by Square Enix, the futuristic fantasy/sci-fi first-person-shooter, RPG, Outriders launched to much fanfare. The game was so highly anticipated that it topped the list of games released alongside it, player activity-wise.

At the beginning of April, the much anticipated, AAA rated, title from Polish games developer, People Can Fly, Outriders, was made available on multiple platforms. Users of PC, Xbox, PlayStation, the Epic Games store, and streaming platforms, Steam, as well as mobile streaming platform, Google Stadia.

“We’re excited to team with Google to bring Outriders to Stadia with Stadia exclusive features and the highest levels of performance, allowing players to get the best experience on all supported devices” said Jon Brooke, of Square Enix.

The game is set in a fictitious future, where the planet Earth has been rendered unlivable by an ecological cataclysm (sound familiar?) Anyway, humanity sets out to colonize planet Enoch. Quite a hostile environment , man comes to find.

Players employ a arsenal mix of magic, and futuristic weapons to subdue the hostile planet and its inhabitants. To fulfill one’s quest, one must complete missions while blasting through enemies in solo mode, or in co-op mode, with up to three players.

The game’s Stadia release was the first to coincide with releases on other platforms. Titles have previously been released on Stadia a lot later than they had on other titles.  Madden NFL 21, Jedi Wars: Fallen Order, as well as Fifa 21 are some high profile titles that came to Stadia a lot later than their original release dates. This affords Stadia, parity with other platforms, which positions it as a legitimate game streaming platform.

Outriders was published on Google Stadia, alongside titles like Resident Evil 7 Biohazard: Gold Edition, Kemono Heroes, Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, among others, and lead the pack of games to be released that week. 

The game also launched – perhaps another record breaker – alongside a game patch for the Outriders title, which is called the Outriders Day One update. The update smoothed out some issues that were noted by players who got hold of the demo version, prior to official release. 

Jittery visuals were the main focus of the update. Aside from improving player experience in the latter part of the game, cutscenes & dialogues are supposed to play out a lot smoother after the update is installed.

Improvements to co-op functionality, decreased loading time for Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 versions of the game were also noted. People Can Fly also worked on the game’s cover system, balance functionality, while making cross-play a default function, between the demo and release versions of the title.

Outriders’ gameplay is much like a cross between Gears of War, Anthem, and Destiny, so it won’t be completely unfamiliar with folks who have dabbled with any of those titles. Aside from that, it’s a brilliantly crafted game. The whole ‘dying earth’ narrative is getting rather clichéd though.