Google Decides to Close Stadia's Main Game Studio

Stadia’s existence as a cloud-based gaming platform is never free from interesting conversations. Although many gamers don’t like the idea of a gaming experience that relies on streaming access, there’s no denying that cloud gaming will become a rapidly growing trend in the future. But for now, it seems Stadia’s position is still relatively weak. Especially after the latest news from Google that decided to close the internal studio Stadia Games & Entertainment.

This announcement was delivered directly by Phil Harrison who is vice president of Google Stadia. He said that this time Stadia will focus more on being a platform and no longer holding exclusive game projects. The closing of the studio was also followed by the exit of Jade Raymond, who previously held the position of head of Stadia Games & Entertainment.

With this closure, Stadia will serve as a platform that can assist developers and publishers in distributing their games. So even though their internal studio is closed, Stadia will still be marketed and become the platform for many new third-party games on the market. Harrison added that he and his team will continue to provide support to further advance the cloud gaming trend to more gamers around the world.

This news was unexpected, but at the same time it was also predictable. Since its debut as a new gaming platform in 2019, Stadia has received very mixed responses. Some gamers like the cloud gaming approach which is considered more practical, but not a few feel that accessing games via online streaming is too wasteful of quota and adequate internet connection. A need that can not be met by some gamers, especially those who live in remote areas.

So what do you think about Google shutting down Stadia’s internal studio? Will Stadia be able to maintain its position as a relevant gaming platform?

Source: Official Google

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