You hit on my biggest concern, the fact that Stadia is DRM on steroids. Relative further reading for anybody that has questions on DRM and it's effects[1][2].

[1] https://www.defectivebydesign.org/

[2] https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restri...

I think a lot of people are going to prefer to run games locally. I'm looking forward to playing strategy games on Stadia or games where lag isn't too critical. For quick reflex games, lag is important. And if VR games ever take off, lag is going to be critical.

Nobody cares what people think they want. In 5 years you'll be able to play AAA games on a $500 pc, pay by minute, and it'll be the only way to play them, and people will. Grudgingly, maybe, but they will. Everything on the server ('cloud gaming') is the only air tight DRM method, and publishers will jump on it as soon as it becomes viable at scale.

VR is the streaming killer. I was not entirely sure they'd even be able to get 2D video streaming like they have, because that already pretty much tapped out the technical prowess we can have. Heck, just running it over a network at all means you're going to experience pauses long enough to drop frames.

Since I assume Sony & Microsoft know this, and they aren't countering with a VR push but instead trying to match them with streaming, I suspect they judge the market either isn't there yet, or may never be there (on any business-realistic time scale). Or they just can't resist the DRM and lockin.

In the long term, streamed games (Stadia or similar) are definitely going to become dominant. Steam, et al, can still be storefronts, if they position themselves as such – we still need content curation.

All one needs is a screen with support (e.g. smartTV, chromecast, steam box), internet, and controllers. Classic game systems might be needed for another 5-10 years. Controllers & form factors matter (e.g. Switch, VR), but the "power" of PCs & game systems are no longer differentiators.

I suppose if Google starts kicking their butts in cloud gaming, they might loosen their stances on lock-in technologies in an effort to attract developers.

That's what I hope for. MS stopped being lock-in jerks on the Web only when they practically lost the browser wars. They need a stronger kick in gaming too, to start using cross platform technologies.