After months of build up, Google Stadia was finally released yesterday, but with wide-spread reports of delayed pre-order access codes, some of the streaming service's biggest supporters are already starting to turn against it.

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Stadia Codes and Lost Names



Hi there. Founders will get the chance to reserve their unique Stadia Name when Stadia launches in November. We'll be sharing specific instructions on how to reserve your Stadia Name at a later date. — Stadia (@GoogleStadia) September 17, 2019

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Stadia Delay Memes

Google Stadia's Early Problems

Xbox One X Google Stadia Google Stadia vs Xbox One X

Prior to the release of Stadia, many fans on the r/Stadia subreddit were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the service. A Stadia anticipation megathread was started just a couple of days ago, but it quickly became a sounding board for customers who preordered the Founder's Edition of Stadia to air their complaints about not yet receiving their hardware or, more commonly, not receiving the code necessary to activate their Stadia accounts.One major reason that fans are upset with the delayed codes is that unique Stadia display names can be obtained on a "first come, first served" basis, which one user claims was used to "lure in buyers that were on the fence." Because several Founder's Edition purchasers are still waiting for their codes to be emailed to them, others who didn't pre-order and instead bought the service as it was released were instead able to get the names they wanted, and in some instances, claimed names Founder's Edition purchasers thought they could get.During a Reddit AMA held four months ago, Stadia's director of product Andrew Doronichev did specifically outline "You have a chance to grab a cool name on a new gaming platform! Good reason to pre-order... You’ll get the name reservation email a bit before you receive your Founder’s Edition. As for who gets first dibs, we’ll be sending name reservation emails in the order pre-orders were received."Google initially promised Founder's Edition customers would have "first dibs" on their Stadia name during the June Stadia Connect conference . Then in September, the official Stadia Twitter account promised "Founders will get the chance to reserve their unique Stadia Name when Stadia launches in November," to which users responded over the last couple of days saying their Founder's Edition package had shipped, and they had not yet received the e-mail letting them choose their name.While it's clear Google's intention was to roll out the reservation distribution on a first come, first serve basis, several customers are calling this out as a lie, with one user saying "So this was a f***ing lie. My colleague who ordered a month after me, already got his code.. here I am several hours after launch.. no code."Google issued an official response to these complaints, stating "We're sorry for the delayed responses. We've identified an issue where a small fraction of Stadia access codes were sent out of order. That has been addressed. We've continued to roll out codes in the sequence in which we received your pre-order. We look forward to seeing you on Stadia."In the midst of these issues awaiting resolutions, one user started a petition that demands Founder's Edition purchasers be compensated and refunded for failed promises, stating "We need to set a precedent that the Stadia community cannot be swayed with false promises."With these pre-order delays snowballing, several users on r/Stadia have begun creating memes lampooning the situation, calling the Stadia controller they received useless without the service, and joking about how long they've had to wait while also not getting the name of their liking.While predominant complaints from Stadia customers revolve around launch delays, the streaming service is suffering other early issues. We've noted in our Google Stadia review in progress that, with its user base growing after launch, a significant dip in visual quality can be seen. Additionally, launch day games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Destiny 2 were loading in lower quality assets, and some IGN staffers reported massive amounts of latency that made games like Mortal Kombat 11 nearly unplayable. However, by this morning, Stadia seems to have recovered quite a bit.We also noted in our review in progress that several promised features didn't make Stadia's launch, including wireless Stadia controller support, Achievements, Buddy Pass, Stream Connect, and more. You can check out our Google Stadia Controller review to see if its standard input device is up to snuff.Even with the issues we've encountered, some Founder's Edition customers lucky enough to have gotten their access codes largely seem to be enjoying the experience, with one user saying "Omg it was awesome. No noticeable latency even though I was using bluetooth," and other users having fun playing games on remote devices.Did you pre-order the Stadia Founder's Edition? Have you gotten your code? If so, are you enjoying your time with the service? Let us know in the comments below!

Colin Stevens is IGN's video game social coordinator. Follow him on Twitter