Google has discontinued its internal Stadia game development division, the company announced today as it refocuses Stadia to be a home for streaming games from existing developers instead of developing its own games for the service.
“Creating the best in-class games from the start takes many years and significant investment, and the costs rise exponentially,” reads a blog post by Phil Harrison, vice president at Google and general manager of Stadia. ‘As we focus on the proven technology of Stadia as well as the deepening of our business partnerships, we have decided that we will not invest further in bringing exclusive content from our in-house development team SG&E, other than any short-term planning. ”
As part of the change, the company is closing down both the Los Angeles and Montreal studios, both of which existed under the Stadia Games and Entertainment banner. Google states that “most of the SG&E [Stadia Games and Entertainment] team will move on to new roles, ”but Jade Raymond – the veteran of the Ubisoft and EA industry who led the Stadia studio teams – will leave the company completely.
Stadia itself, along with the $ 9.99 Stadia Pro subscription service, will continue to exist, and Google may continue to secure exclusive (or time-exclusive) third-party titles to offer through its subscription. Any “almost planned” games will also still be released on Stadiums.
But the closure of Stadia’s in-house studios is a serious blow to Google’s ambitions. Aside from the mere technical aspects of the streaming service itself, the fact that Google was willing to invest in several first-party studios was one of the most important parts of the original Stadia vision.
That Google would create games for the latest streaming service – titles that would in theory use its unique cloud technology – indicated how seriously Google is investing in Stadiums. It was also a sign that the company one day wanted to offer exclusive settings that could offer compelling competition to companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, all of which rely heavily on their own studios to create important exclusive games to chase players. their services.
The fact that Stadia will no longer work in the gaming industry makes a certain sense: the development of a AAA title is an incredibly expensive endeavor. But it also means that Stadia’s future will probably only be transferred to another option, where you can play the same games as you can on a PS5, Xbox Series X or PC.