What Stadia’s Demise Means for Google’s Future
Has public trust in Google reached rock bottom, or is the tech giant’s lack of recent innovation to blame for the shuttering of Stadia, the cloud-based gaming service?
At three years old, Google’s Stadia had only just begun to find traction as an instant-on gameplay service when the announcement of its closure was made last week. The cloud gaming service combines a WiFi gaming controller with games that can be streamed through web browsers, TV, mobile apps, and Chromecast. That ability to play games without downloads differentiated Stadia from competitors.
Despite some early fanfare, though, the service failed to find its footing and never generated the kind of traction among gamers and developers that are necessary for long-term viability.
In a blog post, Google said it will close Stadia in January 2023. All Stadia hardware purchased through its Google Store will be refunded by mid-January, along with games and add-on content purchased through the Stadia store. Stadia users with active Pro subscriptions will still be able to access their game libraries, including Pro games. However, in an email sent to Stadia users, Google said publisher support for games may vary, and the gameplay experience may be impacted during the shut-down period.
Developers like Ubisoft (maker of Assassin’s Creed) and Bungie (maker of Destiny 2) were reportedly caught off guard by Google’s announcement.
In a blog post, Stadia vice president and general manager Phil Harrison wrote that he still believes in Stadia’s strong technology foundation, but said the service “hasn’t gained the traction with users” that Google expected, leading to the company’s decision to wind-down the streaming service.
Google’s Latest Setback
The announcement of Stadia’s looming closure is the latest in a line of recent setbacks for Google. While Google is certainly large enough to withstand some big blows, there is concern that continued setbacks might make it harder to attract and retain the kind of top-tier talent that’s necessary to compete with technology giants like Amazon and Meta.
The decision to shutter Stadia also sends the message that Google isn’t willing to stick with new ventures — yet another warning sign that might cause developers and other top talent to shy away and ultimately harm Google in the coming years.
Google has long been known for its willingness to embrace outside-the-box ideas, as well as its ability to bring experiments to market fast. While that might still be the case, the company seems to be shutting projects down at a rapid pace. There’s even a website — www.killedbygoogle.com — dedicated to tracking all the projects Google has killed. Some of Google’s most well-known failures include Google Wave, Google Reader, Orkut, and Google+, which launched with significant fanfare in 2011 and was shut down quietly eight years later.
It’s not uncommon for large companies to narrow their focus during recessionary periods. Pruning failed projects like Stadia during the current period of economic uncertainty, both inside the tech industry and outside, could be a savvy move on Google’s part. On the other hand, the decision to shutter a cloud-based service that’s been described as having enormous potential could also be seen as a huge miss on Google’s part.
Regardless of whether Stadia’s shuttering becomes a real turning point for Google, it’s certainly a chink in the armor for one of the technology industry’s biggest players, and the company’s biggest rivals will almost certainly be using the news to their advantage.
