Rumors raise the doubt that Google Stadia service will last much longer.

[DeathtoGnomes]

Anyone adamant enough to follow any gaming news should recall Google opening its own gaming studios with HUGE promises. Events, including those of the competition, since that announcement has seen Google shutdown its development studios and kick about 150 employees to the curb.

Google Steps Out Of Games Development By Closing Stadia Games Studios

Google is getting out of the game-making business after it announced the closure of Stadia’s Montreal and Los Angeles studios.

www.thegamer.com

Google Stadia claimed it was changing its business focus in the same breath.

Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Studios, Changing Business Focus

Google Stadia, the late 2019 streaming platform that promised to revolutionize gaming by letting users stream games without needing to own a powerful PC or console, is altering course, getting out of the game-making business and will now offer its platform directly to game publishers alongside...

kotaku.com

Part of that re-focus was because Stadia never did meet its subscription target. The claim dates back to 2H 2020. Recent news articles on business/corporate news focused sites are the source for the actual rumors that Google end Stadia as we know it.

Google Has "Deprioritized" Stadia According To New Report

As Game Pass continues to grow, Google could be set to scrap Stadia

www.thegamer.com

Assuming Google never did meet its goals since, it puts the Stadia service in a very desperate position, what it will do exactly is unknown but it is an inevitable change, maybe copying other streaming platforms or become partners with other services. Whatever Google does, will likely fail, such history repeats too often with Google.

Menawhile, ... Sony's Playstation Now service is in a similar dire circumstances and is also looking at restructuring and might be combining its PS services into a single one.

Rumors are so much fun. What if...

IMO Stadia was doomed from the start so it comes as no surprised and many of us here on TPU shared the prediction that this was bound to, and was actually going to happen with time. That time has come folks.

 

[qubit]

I'm not really surprised. Action gaming doesn't really lend itself to cloud hosting because of all that lag. And the further one is from the data centre the worse it gets. It's basic physics: limited by the speed of light that even the fastest connection can't get around. The lag will be constant, but the data faster, is all.

 

[neatfeatguy]

I complete forgot about Google Stadia.

It doesn't surprise me that it hasn't taken off and may be on the verge of shutting down. There are still limitations in place that don't benefit both the provider and the consumers:
1) lack of games supported (costs money to license those games, more games cost more money)
2) lack of proper internet connection speeds for a lot of people
3) many people have to contend with data caps and streaming games will eat through your data cap faster (there is an article on TPU a while back about data usage from testing out Stadia, it's a pretty significant hit if I remember correctly)
4) latency will be an issue for online multiplayer games that people stream (single player games shouldn't be too bad if you have a low latency)
5) other things I can't think of right now?

A game streaming system may eventually be feasible some time in the future, when some of these issues are resolved. Until then it just seems like a stupid business venture.

 

[64K]

Not surprising. The lag is something they can't get around. I guess it would be acceptable for a lot of genres but for shooters I don't think it would be acceptable.

 

[dgianstefani]

Literally who uses it.

 

[BlaezaLite]

I thought it was gone already?

 

[outpt]

I thought it was gone already. Until I saw this thread. They were saying it was dead before it got out of the gate.

 

[dirtyferret]

I thought it was gone already. Until I saw this thread. They were saying it was dead before it got out of the gate.

same

 

[Vayra86]

Good riddance.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Aside from the obvious issues, its inception was poorly timed. Google just doesnt have the same base in gaming as Nvidia or MS, it should have just stayed out of it.

A game streaming system may eventually be feasible some time in the future, when some of these issues are resolved. Until then it just seems like a stupid business venture.

I agree, but I think we would benefit more if Google never tried again and left it to MS, Sony, and Ngreedia. We dont need another EGS battle, opps wait, nevah mind! Google just lost that war...

 

[Vayra86]

Aside from the obvious issues, its inception was poorly timed. Google just doesnt have the same base in gaming as Nvidia or MS, it should have just stayed out of it.


I agree, but I think we would benefit more if Google never tried again and left it to MS, Sony, and Ngreedia. We dont need another EGS battle, opps wait, nevah mind! Google just lost that war...

That EGS battle is indeed a major thing, because it shows society is waking up to the tech giant 'fast forward to the next area of lawlessness' modus operandi. Another big one is Meta, and the reception of the metaverse. Timing of it all is suddenly not so great, now that we're getting reality checks. The same will apply to on demand gaming at large, I think - it will have to turn a profit someday, and we've already seen lots of 'disruptive' businesses lose battles lately. And make no mistake, on demand gaming is definitely treading on the lack of regulation/legislation area here, because it turns product into access to product and consumer into subscriber.

We have a lot to thank Sweeney for and the beauty is, even if EGS fails, the eggs will hatch.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

That EGS battle is indeed a major thing, because it shows society is waking up to the tech giant 'fast forward to the next area of lawlessness' modus operandi. Another big one is Meta, and the reception of the metaverse. Timing of it all is suddenly not so great, now that we're getting reality checks. The same will apply to on demand gaming at large, I think - it will have to turn a profit someday, and we've already seen lots of 'disruptive' businesses lose battles lately. And make no mistake, on demand gaming is definitely treading on the lack of regulation/legislation area here, because it turns product into access to product and consumer into subscriber.

We have a lot to thank Sweeney for and the beauty is, even if EGS fails, the eggs will hatch.

Ohh lets not get started on Meta....

And make no mistake, on demand gaming is definitely treading on the lack of regulation/legislation area here

Yes and because of this, its actually a good thing to have these failures now.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

I agree, but I think we would benefit more if Google never tried again and left it to MS, Sony, and Ngreedia. We dont need another EGS battle, opps wait, nevah mind! Google just lost that war...

Use of "Ngreedia" makes it really hard to take the rest of the post seriously. Thought we'd gotten that kind of thing out of our collective system when "Micro$oft" went out of fashion.

To the topic at hand, I'm somewhat surprised it lasted this long. But Alphabet seems to vacillate about how much support it puts behind something. How long did they try to make G+ a thing? Long past the point the writing was on the wall, anyway. Streamed game services seem like a fantastic idea; look how successful streamed TV/films are. But as others have rightly pointed out, games have a latency problem that's non-trivial to overcome. Maybe the second system effect will come into play, and the next service (or the one after that) will figure that out. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I mean it was flawed from the start.

Why PAY for a premium service then PAY for every game you play on that 'premium service' that you wont even own and will lose if google pulls the plug? At least in the case Stadia's competitors like Geforce Now and similar services where you pay a flat fee and get access a tonne of games for little to no extra fee

Then the whole 4k thing turned out to be an absolute lie and Google have worked so hard to wipe that claim from the internet. Because people were starting to sue for false advertising.

The cloud of anxiety hanging over all stadia's customers about what will happen to their paid for games if the service shuts down. The good news about this whole mess is they wont have to wait much longer to find out and i doubt that Google will give them any refunds. At most, people who bought games might just receive credit to spend in the app or movie store.

 

[Assimilator]

And nothing of value was lost.

 

[Colddecked]

Literally who uses it.

Giving the people what they never asked for.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Use of "Ngreedia" makes it really hard to take the rest of the post seriously. Thought we'd gotten that kind of thing out of our collective system when "Micro$oft" went out of fashion.

I dont claim to be politically correct, nor will I try, so here I thought woke BS was checked at the door. Sometimes word usage has a meaning to avoid going into an undesired and uinneeded diatribe, this is one of those things where one word explains sufficiently.

 

[phanbuey]

If it's one or two things thing gamers love... It's tons of latency and not owning or being guaranteed what they paid for.

This business model never really made any sense.

 

[NotHereMan]

This strategy of cloud gaming makes me think they're trying to revive the Arcade business style: Paying to play games you don't own, and probably never will. The arcade business practically became extinct when consoles became formidable gaming machines and no one wanted to leave the house to game. Now you get to stay home and pay, except now it's more of a subscription like TV/Movie streaming. It's an interesting modern business model to say the least.

We're almost to that point in gaming where you no longer own a game anyway. And, If you have consumers buying in-game items that only improve how they look in a game and not improve how they play, then Cloud gaming will surely come into fruition in the near future.

I'll add this: Power usage requirements to host cloud gaming must be significant as I'm sure all the machinery will be centralized on a regional basis.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

This strategy of cloud gaming makes me think they're trying to revive the Arcade business style: Paying to play games you don't own, and probably never will. The arcade business practically became extinct when consoles became formidable gaming machines and no one wanted to leave the house to game. Now you get to stay home and pay, except now it's more of a subscription like TV/Movie streaming. It's an interesting modern business model to say the least.

We're almost to that point in gaming where you no longer own a game anyway. And, If you have consumers buying in-game items that only improve how they look in a game and not improve how they play, then Cloud gaming will surely come into fruition in the near future.

I'll add this: Power usage requirements to host cloud gaming must be significant as I'm sure all the machinery will be centralized on a regional basis.

That depends - In certain parts of Asia, The arcade business is pretty big. Ask Sega, Capcom or Square Enix - They all have skin in the arcade business and im not just talking about as developer either, They have their own machines. Its just in the west where its slowly fallen out of fashion because money is harder to come by and better used elsewhere.

 

[NotHereMan]

That depends - In certain parts of Asia, The arcade business is pretty big. Ask Sega, Capcom or Square Enix - They all have skin in the arcade business and im not just talking about as developer either, They have their own machines. Its just in the west where its slowly fallen out of fashion because money is harder to come by and better used elsewhere.

Arcades still a thing: That's good to know! Just not where I am. At least we have the barcades.

 

[64K]

Hmmmm Google denies rumor that Stadia is shutting down. Well, we will will just have to wait and see what really happens and if Google is being honest with us.

Google denies rumor that Stadia is shutting down

A rumor surfaced earlier this week saying that Google's cloud gaming service will be shuttered for good by the end of summer.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Its just in the west where its slowly fallen out of fashion because money is harder to come by and better used elsewhere.

Local Politics is actually the reason for arcades to disappear here, they are still seen as 'gathering' places for problem teens with accusation of drug dealing, encouraging skipping school, loitering, meeting places for social rebellion, anything local government can think up as an excuse to close it down if they cant prevent one from going up. One popular restaurant and arcade, Dave and Busters, they force it to close down very early (8-9pm) just because of the arcade section.

 

[eidairaman1]

Local Politics is actually the reason for arcades to disappear here, they are still seen as 'gathering' places for problem teens with accusation of drug dealing, encouraging skipping school, loitering, meeting places for social rebellion, anything local government can think up as an excuse to close it down if they cant prevent one from going up. One popular restaurant and arcade, Dave and Busters, they force it to close down very early (8-9pm) just because of the arcade section.

Which makes no sense

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Local Politics is actually the reason for arcades to disappear here, they are still seen as 'gathering' places for problem teens with accusation of drug dealing, encouraging skipping school, loitering, meeting places for social rebellion, anything local government can think up as an excuse to close it down if they cant prevent one from going up. One popular restaurant and arcade, Dave and Busters, they force it to close down very early (8-9pm) just because of the arcade section.

Many parts of asia also have problems with gangs congregating in arcade malls. The only difference is maybe they take their business outside when its time to break out the machete.