The new Darksiders costs an extra $10 on Google Stadia

Google Stadia hasn’t had the smoothest launch, and the stream of avoidable mistakes keeps coming from Google’s new gaming platform. On Dec. 5, THQ Nordic and Airship Syndicate launched Darksiders Genesis on Google Stadia and strangely, the Stadia version costs $10 more than the version on PC.

When Stadia launched, Google gave Stadia Pro subscribers a discount on certain game releases — up to 50 percent off on titles like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. But Stadia doesn’t offer any kind of Pro discount for Darksiders Genesis. On Stadia, Genesis costs $39.99, but if you pre-ordered the game on Steam, you only had to pay $25.50 — nearly $15 dollars off the Stadia price. Even if you didn’t pre-order Genesis, you can get the game on Steam, GOG, or Humble right now for only $29.99.

Polygon reached out to THQ Nordic for information on the price difference between platforms, but a spokesperson for the publisher said, “THQ doesn’t comment on their price policy.”

Darksiders Genesis is one of only 24 games available on the new platform, which makes the launch of an anticipated new title at a price higher than other platforms bizarre. Some Stadia owners are chalking the $10 premium on precedent set by other releases, in which console versions of certain games cost more than their PC counterparts. But that style of pricing model is outdated, especially for a platform that’s definitely not a console.

While our reviewer wasn’t terribly fond of it, Darksiders Genesis is out now for Stadia and Windows PC.