February 1, 2021
Google Stadia Game Studio is shutting down: one less player in the cloud gaming subscription race.
Google decided to write it off without ever releasing a Stadia original after 2 years of investments. Including the acquisition of Typhoon Studios in Montreal (Dec 2019) and opening one in LA (Mar 2020), hiring industry veteran Jade Raymond (Mar 2019) from Ubisoft and EA and building a team of 150 developers.
Stadia platform will continue focusing on cloud gaming technology partnerships and distribution for 3rd party studios.
When Stadia was trying to do it all by replicating the console in the cloud, others focus on creating differentiation in a niche:
- Stream and download games with Microsoft Xbox Game Pass (+ All Access console bundles)
- Gaming channel stores with Amazon Luna
- Free ad-supported games with Facebook Gaming
- Play games you already own with NVIDIA GeForce Now
- Download-only catalogue with PlayStation Now
- Exclusive access and experiences with Ubisoft+, Electronic Arts (EA) Play, Epic Games Fortnite Crew etc.
- 100s of mobile games with Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass
Who will be the winners? Is this the right move for Google?
FYI, see what else is in Google product graveyard: https://lnkd.in/gcSnkpj