In a first for Google's fledgling game streaming service, Stadia Premiere Edition packs will be offered to UK consumers as part of BT's superfast fiber broadband plans. The strategic partnership will see Stadia promoted far more heavily in the UK across TV, print, and on the web.

The BT Group has a wide-reaching infrastructure in the UK, comprising fiber, 4G, and 5G networks — it also owns mobile operator EE, a longtime Google Pixel partner. Fiber plans from BT eligible for a free Stadia pack start at £39.99 (51Mb - 73Mb down) and come with a white controller, Chromecast Ultra, and three months of Stadia Pro (worth £119). That should be plenty fast enough to handle Google's game streaming tech, but faster plans will also be available.

I've tried Stadia on my 100Mb connection at home in London (Virgin Media, not BT) and it's very stable when played on a Chromecast Ultra over WiFi, although performance suffers a little when I play through the Chrome browser on a laptop. Google has a lot planned for Stadia in 2020, such as 120 additional games and a host of new features, so I'm cautiously optimistic that it will exceed the admittedly low expectations after its slow start. It's a shame that the game I'm most looking forward to playing on the platform — Cyberpunk 2077 — has been delayed until September, though.

Source: BT