JOIN USGoogle pulls the plug on Stadia gaming service
Google on Wednesday (January 18) formally shut the company's gaming service Stadia. This comes as no surprise, as the search engine has pulled several similar services and apps over the last decade, but what struck me the most is that Stadia had a lot of potential to earn billions of revenue for Google.
The gaming industry is dominated by a handful including Nintendo, Sony(Sony), Microsoft(Xbox), Tencent, Activision Blizzard and there was a lot of scope for new players to bring more choices to the gamers, but looks like Google just didn't have the fire in its belly make things work.
How Google Stadia came to end?
In late 2019, Google with great enthusiasm announced the launch of the new gaming platform Stadia. The search engine giant had forged partnerships with several popular gaming publishers to offer exclusive gaming titles and at the beginning, it looked very promising.
People need not have to buy expensive consoles to play games on its cloud-based platform. They could just pull out their Android phone anywhere and anytime. Or Users could even play it on any supported smart TV, Chrome devices, or laptops via the Stadia app.
Google had lined up exciting titles such as Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle, Destiny 2: The Collection, Farming Simulator 2019, Final Fantasy XV, Football Manager 2020, Grid 2019, Gylt, Just Dance 2020, Kine, Metro Exodus, Mortal Kombat 11, NBA 2K20, Rage 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption 2, Samurai Shodown, Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Thumper, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Trials Rising, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and many more.
However, the initial euphoria soon died. Even when the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns around the world, forced billions of people couped at home, Google Stadia service did not receive good traction. The economic downturn, which has affected most western markets, the spending from consumers has gone down. Eventually, Google had no choice but to pull the plug on Stadia to contain the loss.
The search engine giant has said the revenues have come down and so, it has slowed hiring and even frozen in some departments. There are reports that it may even start laying off employees in the coming months.
Also read | Google to lay off 10,000 'poorly performing' employees: Report
But, compared to other times, when Google impulsively drop projects such as Hangouts, YouTube Go, Shopping Mobile app, and many more, the Mountain View-based company has been little conscious of its actions on the patrons.
In that aspect, Google in the last major update to its gaming controller hardware (launched for gaming on the Stadia platform), ensured it can connect to any supporting console or device via Bluetooth.
Also, it ensured to give advance notice of three months to Stadia subscribers, before it shut the service. And, most importantly, offer free service for three months and even gave a full refund on software and hardware such as the Chromecast Ultra gamepad, which was purchased recently [Readers can go to the official website for more information on refunds, here].
Will Google try its hand at gaming again? Only time will tell.
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