This week, Stadia became the centerpiece in the worst possible way, with Google halting first-party development after less than two years. This has made many people wonder if Google Stadiums is ‘dead’ or not. The short answer is no, Stadia is not dead yet, at least not yet.
Stadia Games and Entertainment is sadly dead
In a formal announcement, Stadia’s Phil Harrison said Google would end its Stadia games and entertainment division and halt the development of first-party, Google-made video games.
Some see that Google no longer wants to make their own games for Stadia, as a sign that the game service does not have much longer to live. If Google is not going to make games for their platform, why would anyone else do it?
After this thought, the announcement was a realization of their initial concern about Google’s confidence in creating a gaming platform, indicating Google’s history of “killing” beloved products. To put it simply, people consider the strike of Stadia Games and Entertainment to be the beginning of the death of Stadia.
The death of Stadia Games and Entertainment is without a doubt a major blow to Stadia’s reputation, and one that Google will have to fight tooth and nail to get back from. Stages, as we know them, however, are certainly not dead. During the announcement, Google made it clear that Stadia is not dead and will bring in a myriad of games from third-party companies.
What does it mean if you are a current or future Stadia player? You can continue to play all your games on Stadia and Stadia Pro, and we will continue to bring new third-party titles to the platform.
Stages, the console, are alive and well
In November, Jack Buser of Google shared that Stadia’s roadmap for 2021 and beyond contains a whopping 400 games that would be launched on Stadia. Stadia Games and Entertainment’s first party, Google-made games, accounts for a small handful of the total. With that in mind, the next year or more of Stadia versions will not look any different than Stadia Games and Entertainment would not dissolve.
Of course, it remains to be seen how other developers and publishers will treat Stadia between the success of Cyberpunk 2077 and the lack of first-party games from Google. Meanwhile, nothing changes for the average Stadia player. New games are still coming, the friends you made are still here, new features are still being developed and the games you bought are still ready to play. Stages are not dead, at least not today.
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