Otherwise, it fell short of all its ambitions
Has anything in video gaming launched hotter, and returned to Earth harder, than Google Stadia? This still-maturing industry has seen a lot of ambitious plans blow up on the pad in the past decade or two, but in 2019, Stadia’s unveiling at the Game Developers Conference had the air of history. Less than a year later, it was just another Google experiment that did not catch fire.
Thursday’s announcement wasn’t shocking for the fact Google was pulling the plug on its vegetative streaming games platform; it was remarkable because Google was offering refunds to anyone who spent money (other than the monthly subscription fee) on the service.
For some, the handwriting for Stadia’s demise was on the wall 18 months ago, when Google closed down first-party games development — for which Google acquired two studios and hired A-lister Jade Raymond. For many more, if not most, it was in Google’s anemic value proposition. Stadia Pro, the service’s premium subscription level, bought players access to an underwhelming library of unknown indie games, boutique racing sims, and THQ fire-sale IPs. It also largely failed to deliver on its 4K streaming resolution promises.
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When it was announced in 2019, Stadia was meant to shove aside the idea of dedicated equipment — $500 PlayStations or even more expensive PC gaming rigs — by giving you AAA gaming quality from anything capable of running its Chrome browser. What Google learned is that, even if you’re building a virtual console, that console still needs some headline-grabbing exclusive titles driving people to it.
Google instead paid eight figures, according to some reports, to bring established console and PC titles, like Red Dead Redemption 2, The Division, or the latest NBA 2K, to their platform — at full price.
