Google Stage, the streaming platform at the end of 2019, which promised to revolutionize gaming by allowing users to stream games without having to have a powerful PC or console, is changing course, leaving the gaming business and now will provide the platform directly to game publishers alongside the Stadia Pro public offering.
The company is announcing the news today, however Kotaku began hearing noises from sources close to the Stage last week that the Google service was heading for a major change. A source in the gaming industry said Kotaku that Google is canceling several projects, virtually any games should be released beyond a certain window in 2021, although they believed that the upcoming games will still come out. Today he brings some clarifications.
Google will close its two game studios, located in Montreal and Los Angeles. None of them had released games yet. This closure will affect about 150 developers, said a source familiar with Stadia’s operations. The company says it will try to find new roles for developers at Google.
Jade Raymond, the veteran producer who helped with the construction assassin’s Creed for Ubisoft and switched to EA a few years ago before leaving to run game creation at the Stage, leaving the company, according to Google.
Google will continue to operate the Stadia gaming service and its $ 10 monthly Stadia Pro service. It is unclear how many exclusive games, if any, will continue to come into service, although the company has indicated that it may sign new games and bring in more versions from third parties. to the platform. However, many will look at a reduction in the plan for the Stadium to be run as a bona fide competitor for console platforms.
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The company intends to start offering its Stadia technology to publishers, opening the possibility for Stadia to become streaming technology for other video game companies. Google’s Head of Stadium Operations, Phil Harrison, director of long-running consoles, will focus on tracking these new partnerships.
„WI see an important opportunity to work with partners looking for a game solution built on the advanced technical infrastructure and tools of the Stadia platform, ”Harrison wrote in a blog post today. “We believe that this is the best way to build the Stadium in a sustainable and sustainable business that helps the development of the industry. ”
Google initially offered Stadia in a $ 129 Founder’s Edition package, which included a custom controller, a Chromecast Ultra (used to stream games from Google’s servers to a TV), and three months of Stadia Pro, a service subscription that granted access to certain games.
Google promoted some interesting features, including the ability to allow players to pass control of a live game Stage and share gameplay shots, but many of them were not available at launch and remained in the testing phase.
The best moments of the service could have been when its third-party ports showed the power of the cloud gaming model, in which a game can run well on almost any device with a screen and a strong internet connection. Ubisoft games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey he ran well on the Stadium. Destiny 2Stage support allows players in that game to retire for a game or additional mission from their phone or laptop when they were away from their usual gaming equipment. When 2077. Cyberpunk he was hesitant about anything else in December, it was going pretty well on the Stadium.
However, without offering a service that you can play or offer exclusive games for killers, Stadia tried to lay the groundwork. Meanwhile, Microsoft has stepped up its cloud gaming service xCloud as part of its Game Pass Ultimate package, and Stadia has become less and less attractive to the type of hardcore gamer who can build buzz for a new gaming service.
Google apparently built for the future with the creation of primary studios and a management team of high-performing studio heads and creative directors, but these efforts were not enough to avoid the fate that many people feared when they heard about this initiative. Google: that it would lose support from within before it gets enough time to realize its potential.
The stage is not ready at all. Stage technology could still succeed. In many ways, the Stadium runs great games. But as a game maker, Google seems to be packing it up. A source familiar with the primary operations of the Stadium said, citing those of another technology giant. widely mediated the failure to create video games: “Google was a terrible place to create games. Imagine Amazon, but with insufficient resources. ”