Google shuts down internal Stadia game studio

[Withywarlock]

The good folks of streaming subforums really ought to tell Google that 'Stadia is the future' because they didn't seem to get the memo. While one can't be entirely gloomy (or cheery, depending on your perspective) about Stadia's demise just yet, Google shutting down their first party studio is worrying news for the platform's future. On the plus side, Stadia has seen rave reviews for its handling of so-called AAA titles, and continues to appeal to people who don't want the high-end dedicated gaming hardware required to run them.

What do we think to this? A cost-saving scheme to look at the bigger picture, or the deathknell of Big G's service? As pessimistic as I am about this, I think Stadia will do fine without its first party titles, but deciding that just over a year after being publicly known isn't helpful for their image or the people working in said studios. I hope those who lost their jobs find their feet in studios more deserving of their talent.

Unrelated to this story is Opa-Opa's theme from Fantasy Zone. Enjoy, or don't. I can't tell you what to do.

[Kane99]

Not great news for Google, but it's not all bad news just yet. They're stopping the production of their own games, and are now focussed on getting third party games instead. Which is what I think their service should be about anyway. Do you think this will result in Stadia ending? 

You can read more about this news here - Engadget

 

Moderator Edit: Merging @Kane99's into this one as @Withywarlock's topic was posted first. Please try to check if a topic already has a thread before posting a new one.

Edited February 1, 2021 by Shagger

[Shagger]

I do feel this is the beginning of the end for Sadia, and it's not like alot of people will miss it. It has been a complete joke from day one. Nor am I suprised to see Google giving up, it certainly isn't the first time they've something like this.

Edited February 1, 2021 by Shagger

[Empire]

Making games is hard. If shutting down their own studio frees up more resources/willingness to sign deals with the big players then it will definitely be good for Stadia in the long term. Even established players buy smaller studios to bolster their offerings. Google has the deep pockets to do exactly this, but seems unwilling to invest at the level that has historically been needed for the gaming industry. Paying for individual or timed exclusives just don’t seem to provide enough oomph.

MS was the last major player to break into the console space, and did so with a ton of existing PC gaming experience. Even for them it took studio acquisitions (Bungie, Digital Anvil, Rare, etc) and almost a full generation to become a major player.

[skyfire]

I never trust google for any serious work. they are just focusing on the paying projects and everything else they make if it is free, it dies. such project has now being featured in google graveyard. a lot of good projects died because of their attitude. 

[killamch89]

On 2/1/2021 at 5:53 PM, Shagger said:

I do feel this is the beginning of the end for Sadia, and it's not like alot of people will miss it. It has been a complete joke from day one. Nor am I suprised to see Google giving up, it certainly isn't the first time they've something like this.

I know I've echoed this same sentiment across multiple threads that it was doomed to fail from the start and two years later, I'm proven right. The only thing I'm surprised at is that it wasn't a complete shutdown but that may start happening later this year. With Xbox Gamepass, Nvidia's Geforce Now and Sony, how was Google ever going to compete with these renowned gaming platforms? The fact that they even rushed Stadia out the door in the first place just shows you their ignorance.

[skyfire]

Here are some of the projects killed by google. it seems like that company has knack for innovating to destroy things. stadia would die same death. 

https://killedbygoogle.com/

[Syntax]

I think it as a great concept, but horrible ping and responsiveness pretty much killed them from the get go. Maybe once internet becomes stupidly fast and very little ping it may make a ton more sense.

[Empire]

16 hours ago, skyfire said:

Here are some of the projects killed by google. it seems like that company has knack for innovating to destroy things. stadia would die same death. 

https://killedbygoogle.com/

And most of them are good also, I remeber using them back when there are around. Google+ I used then BANG no longer. From the list there are so much that they ended, then again some of them on the list where pretty bad and should be killed off. 

[Kane99]

Right now they're banking on 3rd party support to help them recover. They're trying to get more people to make games for their platform, but that's easier said than done. It would be nice if more studios ported their games over, but also priced them a bit more fairly. I don't want to pay full price for a 2-3 year old games. Once they start to figure pricing, they have a chance. But even so, internet providers need to get better before it is fully supported. Because I don't think we're full on ready for game streaming anyway. 

[skyfire]

20 hours ago, Empire said:

And most of them are good also, I remeber using them back when there are around. Google+ I used then BANG no longer. From the list there are so much that they ended, then again some of them on the list where pretty bad and should be killed off. 

Yes a lot of their products are good but their upper management is dumb to not monetize and make money. I think they should continue to kill projects and give public ideas about it so that other people can build it and continue business. 

[m76]

The only thing that would've kept stadia on life support was first party exclusives. Without those they have no legs to stand on.

[Kane99]

7 hours ago, m76 said:

The only thing that would've kept stadia on life support was first party exclusives. Without those they have no legs to stand on.

Not necessarily. If they can offer the same games as other platforms, but at a cheaper price, they have a chance. But it has hurt them a lot for closing their first party studio down. 

What could help them, is getting studios to produce games that work great on the platform. I say let them go at it, make games and see what comes of it. Maybe Google can find new studios to invest in doing it this way. 

[m76]

2 minutes ago, Kane99 said:

Not necessarily. If they can offer the same games as other platforms, but at a cheaper price, they have a chance. But it has hurt them a lot for closing their first party studio down. 

What could help them, is getting studios to produce games that work great on the platform. I say let them go at it, make games and see what comes of it. Maybe Google can find new studios to invest in doing it this way. 

Except they ask full price and a subscription fee for what constitutes as basically renting games. No, they'd need to completely rework their sales model for it to be commercially viable.

[skyfire]

I think subscription wise microsoft xbox pass is winning for this reason. I guess we have to check out how it may work in that case. so far I have realized that google is pretty bad at subscription.