Stadia, Google’s cloud gaming service, officially closed three years after launch. Those with an active subscription so far will no longer be able to access the platform to play the games that were available. What’s more: The official Stadia website now only displays a message confirming the closure and offering users the option to connect their controller via Bluetooth to other devices.

However, the closure of Stadia was officially announced last September after Google made some changes that only confirmed its failure. Among them, the termination of the development of video games through their own studio or the transfer of more than 100 developers to other areas of the company. But, Why did Stadia fail despite the rise of streaming services?

Stadia, as we recall, was announced in June 2019 as a cloud gaming platform similar to Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia’s Geforce Now. The goal was to be able to play from any device anywhere. and only through a subscription of about 10 euros per month. Stadia also had other add-on plans, such as the free one, which allowed users to purchase certain games to build their own catalog.

Good initial reception

The platform became available in November of that year with features that put it ahead of other similar services. Between them the ability to play in 4K at up to 60 FPS. The initial user reception, even before Stadia was available, was quite good. In fact, Google has confirmed that it has run out of Pack Stadia Founder’s Editionwhich includes a Stadia controller, Chromecast Ultra, and other perks like the ability to share Stadia with friends.

The problems, however, began when the service went live for users. The catalog of games available by subscription was initially very small and the most attractive titles had to be bought separately at a price similar to what you get in physical format, even if the subscriber had a Stadia Pro plan which, yes, included some free games like Destiny 2: The Collection.

Stadia didn’t offer anything special compared to other platforms, even compared to traditional consoles.

Although the quality of service was very good, the fact that a more traditional distribution system was offered did not seem to convince users. In addition, Google did not offer any other attractive features compared to other similar platforms or even physical consoles such as Xbox or PlayStation, which can also be played offline.

The number of subscribers was significantly lower than Google expected. Months later, despite the company’s promises of new features such as games developed by the company itself, the number of users did not seem to increase.

In February 2021, Google decided to stop developing its own video games and closed its studio. Jade Raymond, who was responsible for game design for the Google platform, left the company. A few months later, the company stopped prioritizing developing new features for its service and finally announced it was shutting down.

Thus, the failure of Stadia is not due to a malfunction of the platform, but to a bad strategy on the part of Google. Offering an alternative to other similar services, or even traditional consoles, without having the benefits in return didn’t seem to be a good option.

Source: Hiper Textual

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