The company is announcing the news today, though Kotaku began to hear rumblings from sources close to Stadia last week that Google’s service was heading for a major change. One games industry source told Kotaku that Google was canceling multiple projects, basically any games slated for release beyond a specific 2021 window, though they believed games close to release would still come out. Today brings some clarification.
Google will close its two game studios, located in Montreal and Los Angeles. That closure will impact around 150 developers, one source familiar with Stadia operations said. The company says it will try to find those developers new roles at Google.
The company is announcing the news today, though Kotaku began to hear rumblings from sources close to Stadia last week that Google’s service was heading for a major change. One games industry source told Kotaku that Google was canceling multiple projects, basically any games slated for release beyond a specific 2021 window, though they believed games close to release would still come out. Today brings some clarification.
Google will close its two game studios, located in Montreal and Los Angeles. That closure will impact around 150 developers, one source familiar with Stadia operations said. The company says it will try to find those developers new roles at Google.
Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Studios, Changing Business Focus (kotaku.com)Stadia isn’t quite done. The Stadia tech could still succeed. By many accounts, Stadia runs games great. But as a game-maker, Google appears to have packed it in. Said one source familiar with Stadia’s first-party operations, citing another tech giant’s widely publicized failure to create video games: “Google was a terrible place to make games. Imagine Amazon, but under-resourced.”
We launched Stadia with the goal of making your favorite games instantly available wherever you want to play them. With the recent successful launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia, gameplay on all types of devices, including iOS, growing our slate of YouTube integrations, and our global expansions, it’s clear that Stadia’s technology has been proven and works at scale. Having games streamed to any screen is the future of this industry, and we’ll continue to invest in Stadia and its underlying platform to provide the best cloud gaming experience for our partners and the gaming community. This has been the vision of Stadia since the beginning.
In 2021, we’re expanding our efforts to help game developers and publishers take advantage of our platform technology and deliver games directly to their players. We see an important opportunity to work with partners seeking a gaming solution all built on Stadia’s advanced technical infrastructure and platform tools. We believe this is the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry.
Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially. Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games. With the increased focus on using our technology platform for industry partners, Jade Raymond has decided to leave Google to pursue other opportunities. We greatly appreciate Jade's contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles. We’re committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them.
What does this mean if you're a current or future Stadia gamer? You can continue playing all your games on Stadia and Stadia Pro, and we’ll continue to bring new titles from third parties to the platform. We’re committed to the future of cloud gaming, and will continue to do our part to drive this industry forward. Our goal remains focused on creating the best possible platform for gamers and technology for our partners, bringing these experiences to life for people everywhere.
Thats probably MS right now
Nah they can always use xcloud as a value add to xbox, they can keep it up just has Sony has kept up PS Now.
Xcloud and Luna next in line.
Luna will be dead before end of the year, XCloud will last more since it has even Sony using it (Azure) and GamePass but it won´t be long.
doubt Luna will be gone that fast (especially if it gets bunled with Prime)
Xcloud and Luna next in line.
Luna will be dead before end of the year, XCloud will last more since it has even Sony using it (Azure) and GamePass but it won´t be long.
I actually didn't think it would happen with Stadia knowing Google's history (the lost of commitment.) So, kinda saw it, but didn't expect it, to actually happen. Well, given ti has, I likely won't be the first to try any new Google product/service as I have in the past. Have been burned too many times now. lol. Some of their stuff ends up being good but they still kill it and only bring it back if Apple does something similar (usually also better) and then it just seems like they just didn't have the foresight. Ugh. Google.I'm as stunned as the rest of you.
Google has lost all confidence from me to commit to projects over the years.
She also seems to be very unluckyJade Raymond is very overrated.
That’s the way to go. Few are going to buy hardware to stream games. An app in devices they already have could have more reach, though still has the barrier of having to buy a controller for people who aren’t already gamers or hassle with syncing and controller back and forth between whatever console and whatever streaming device if they only have one pad.Update:
Focusing on Stadia’s future as a platform, and winding down SG&E
We’re expanding our efforts to help game developers and publishers take advantage of our platform technology, and winding down SG\u0026E.blog.google