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[Bloomberg] Google’s Stadia Problem? A Video Game Unit That’s Not Googley Enough

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The tech giant likes to test and tweak. Stadia promised to change the industry and failed to deliver.

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Stadia missed its targets for sales of controllers and monthly active users by hundreds of thousands, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A Google spokesperson declined to comment for this story.
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A British video game industry veteran, Harrison was a prominent face at both PlayStation and Xbox during their worst console launches — the overpriced PlayStation 3 and badly managed Xbox One. He joined Google in 2018 as vice president of Stadia.

His team wooed big-name publishers like Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., shelling out tens of millions of dollars to get games like Red Dead Redemption II on Stadia, according to two people familiar with the deals.
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When Stadia officially released on Nov. 19, 2019, it left critics scratching their heads. The library of games was small and mostly old, with none of Google's exclusives available yet. Most of the features Harrison promised were not actually there, such as the State Share concept. The platform was only available through a $130 kit that included a special controller and Chromecast. Gaming website Kotaku called the marketing "random and terrible" and the platform failed to catch on. In fact, the company produced so many more Stadia controllers than it had demand for, that last year it gave them away for free.
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Despite the tepid launch, there was optimism among Stadia's developers that they could win over fans with exclusive games, so long as Google gave them time to thrive. They were excited about game prototypes that could only work on a cloud platform, pushing memory limits with computer-driven artificial intelligence. One prototype, according to people familiar with the plans, was described as a cross between a Google Assistant and a Tamagotchi pet, allowing players to interact with smart creatures in all sorts of fun ways.
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www.bloomberg.com

Google’s Stadia Problem? A Video Game Unit That’s Not Googley Enough

The tech giant likes to test and tweak. Stadia promised to change the industry and failed to deliver.
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com
 
BackwardsSuggestions

BackwardsSuggestions

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Oct 30, 2017
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He says Staida didn't launch with any exclusives but wasn't GYLT one? Or am I complexly misremembering?

Anyway, I tried stadia on my MacBook Air but it caused the fans to go insane. And I can't get it to work on the chrome cast. Just refuses to see the app on my phone.
 
yoonshik

yoonshik

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Oct 26, 2017
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His team wooed big-name publishers like Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., shelling out tens of millions of dollars to get games like Red Dead Redemption II on Stadia, according to two people familiar with the deals.
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So porting games to stadia was profitable from day zero lol
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

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Sep 24, 2019
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The problem with Stadia was that rather than trying to figure out what the market wanted it tried to tell the market what it wanted. Better luck next time.
 
zombiejames

zombiejames

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They were excited about game prototypes that could only work on a cloud platform, pushing memory limits with computer-driven artificial intelligence. One prototype, according to people familiar with the plans, was described as a cross between a Google Assistant and a Tamagotchi pet, allowing players to interact with smart creatures in all sorts of fun ways.
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This is what they thought would push the industry forward? A virtual assistant pet?

Good god.
 
kurt

kurt

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Yet more and more are stepping over to stadia instead/waitiing of investing in ps5
 

DonnieTC

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Apr 10, 2019
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BackwardsSuggestions said:
He says Staida didn't launch with any exclusives but wasn't GYLT one? Or am I complexly misremembering?

Anyway, I tried stadia on my MacBook Air but it caused the fans to go insane. And I can't get it to work on the chrome cast. Just refuses to see the app on my phone.
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It did. Also the article says that it was only available through the $130 kit which is not true. It was available through Chrome day 1 and you could use most any Bluetooth and/or wired controller.

EDIT: I was wrong on the $130 part. I forgot they launched originally invite only through a hardware purchase and opened it up to everyone after launch.
 
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Bxrz

Bxrz

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I assume Amazon is paying the same for Luna. Is Stadia still getting new games? I know they shutdown their 1st party but will new games still go there?
 
Euler007

Euler007

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Wonder how much it cost for MS to get RDR2 on gamepass. It was there for 4 months I think, maybe they paid a monthly fee (or it was just a short contract).
 

Deleted member 10737

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i'm not surprised they had to spend tens of millions to get games on the service. no one was (or is) gonna make stadia games or port their games without a financial incentive.
 
Lube Man

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Phil Harrison is a sleeper agent for Sony. That is my only explanation to all this.
 
Cocolina

Cocolina

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mazi said:
i'm not surprised they had to spend tens of millions to get games on the service. no one was (or is) gonna make stadia games or port their games without a financial incentive.
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Ubisoft are normally pretty good at supporting new technology/consoles out the gate but it may all come with financial incentives, for example Red Steel, Rabbids, ZombiU...not sure if Nintendo bankrolled those, was always under the impression that Ubisoft liked getting off on the first floor on these things
 
Einherjer

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NWCR said:
I assume Amazon is paying the same for Luna. Is Stadia still getting new games? I know they shutdown their 1st party but will new games still go there?
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Dunno but they bought exclusivity for Judgment instead of a real PC port this move pissed off tons of people.
 
Moebius

Moebius

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Isn't the issue that it never did what it said it would do? Having the best graphics/performance was a lie. Can you even load up Stadia in a chrome browser and play games right now?
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

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Oct 25, 2017
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I guess we can finally put to bed the idea that people will pay for games they don't own. If Google had gone with a sub model they'd have been much better off.
dex3108 said:


No wonder Ubisoft was in.
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It's not really that surprising when you think about it. While Unity and Unreal have SDKs to help with the porting process, in house engines will need more work.
 

DonnieTC

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Apr 10, 2019
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Moebius said:
Isn't the issue that it never did what it said it would do? Having the best graphics/performance was a lie. Can you even load up Stadia in a chrome browser and play games right now?
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Yes, that was available since day 1. I think it's a mistake in Jason's article. You didn't have to use a Chromecast to play it.
 
sibarraz

sibarraz

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Oct 27, 2017
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I want to know how much money SNK got from both Epic and Google on those exclusivity deals
 
CubeApple76

CubeApple76

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NWCR said:
I assume Amazon is paying the same for Luna. Is Stadia still getting new games? I know they shutdown their 1st party but will new games still go there?
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Luna actually just uses AWS Windows Virtual Machines in the cloud, so no porting required, just use the PC game. Stadia uses a proprietary Linux + Vulkan solution so requires dedicated porting. Luna just has to pay the licensing to put the game on the subscription, but the dev doesn't have to do anything dedicated for them, which is a huge benefit over Stadia.
 
Man Called Aerodynamics

Man Called Aerodynamics

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Oct 29, 2017
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No one wants to spend $60 on an individual game purchase that they can only access through streaming. Feels like anyone could have told them that. :P
 
buttzilla

buttzilla

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They were excited about game prototypes that could only work on a cloud platform, pushing memory limits with computer-driven artificial intelligence. One prototype, according to people familiar with the plans, was described as a cross between a Google Assistant and a Tamagotchi pet, allowing players to interact with smart creatures in all sorts of fun ways.
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This sounds interesting and it's a shame we'll never get to see it. I hope devs on xcloud are allowed to tap into Azure and get creative with their games.
 
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