Is Google shooting themselves in the foot by revealing Stadia early?

[DeoGame]

As I'm sure you are all aware, Google plans to officially unveil Stadia to the gaming crowd with launch titles, pricing and more. After the recent network outage and a mixed reception off of GDC (which in fairness was aimed at game devs), Google will have to really deliver the goods. It is especially urgent as Microsoft is hosting their E3 conference three days after, and if some aspects of Stadia are poorly received (i.e. monetization, game variety, latency, etc.), Microsoft can fix Xcloud on the spot, make it look like the intended plan, and steal Google's thunder.

This is not dissimilar to when Sony killed the Saturn with one simple word "$299". After the Saturn was announced to have a $399 price tag at E3, Sony announced loud and clear their option was cheaper that night. Whether that was intended or reactionary is unclear (iirc PS1-3 were sold at a loss), Sony easily trounced SEGA and Nintendo was late to the party. If Google is not careful, Microsoft and Amazon can do the same thing, doubly dangerous not that Sony and (allegedly) Nintendo are also building off the Microsoft Azure platform XCloud was built for.

Is Google shooting themselves in the foot, or is there more to their plan than meets the eye?

 

[Meg Cherry]

I think right now, Google is getting Stadia out so that they can just have a foot in the door for cloud gaming. The service at launch might not be perfect, but it'll be widespread and easy to try. From there, they improve the product and get competitive on price.

The goal is to make Stadia as synonymous with streaming games as YouTube is with streaming video. Do they get there? Probably not. But the path to success definitely doesn't start with Microsoft beating them to market.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I feel like Google has no option but to reveal their hand earlier than everyone else. They're the unproven lot currently, so they're kinda forced into having to take the bold strategy. If they can't garner enough interest from their reveal on the 6th, it won't really matter if they announce these features, games, and pricing later. Since I doubt much will be changing if they're committed to a certain launch date of this year.

Best Case Scenario - Their reveal goes well and offers a nice alternative to the already competitve gaming market.
Worst Case Scenario - They completely misread the room and have a Xbox One style reveal (Though as we saw with that, such a scenario would likely result in feedback being taken head-on).

 

[Jecht]

Lol your poll answers are so transparent.

Google shot themselves in the foot the moment they decided it would be a cloud based device.

 

[Knight613]

Everyone's shooting themselves in the foot by leaning into cloud streaming so early.

 

[DeoGame]

Lol your poll answers are so transparent.

Google shot themselves in the foot the moment they decided it would be a cloud based device.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I may have gone a bit far. I'll change!

Edit: or not. Guess I can't change options. Makes sense I suppose.

 

[poptire]

Google just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about streaming culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in physical media where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in streaming, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the streaming public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase FFXIII for either system, nor will they purchase any of Google's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Google has alienated an entire market with this move.

Google, publicly apologize and cancel FFXIII for Stadia or you can kiss your business goodbye.

 

[skeezx]

nah it's pretty much now or never if you want to make a big play in the streaming game. maybe the hand they show will come up short but when it's time to get it it's time to get in

 

[Deleted member 3758]

.

 

[Imitatio]

Google needs to get Stadia out asap imo, else they'll be in a worse position when MS and Sony and potentially Nintendo catch up in terms of streaming, because those already have a strong foothold in the gaming market. Google's enterprises aren't always successful, so in my mind they have to be aggressive about messaging and marketing to establish themselves right from the start. This will be very expensive and straining, but could really turn out to be a huge plus for their multimedia approach as a company.

 

[Deusmico]

They are releasing this year, its normal not rushed

 

[Imitatio]

Google just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about streaming culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in physical media where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in streaming, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the streaming public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase FFXIII for either system, nor will they purchase any of Google's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Google has alienated an entire market with this move.

Google, publicly apologize and cancel FFXIII for Stadia or you can kiss your business goodbye.

Click to shrink...

I knew someone would bring this up. Lol. Classy.

 

[Jadax]

Not really.

No one expects Stadia launch titles/pricing to be expansive or final. But Google has massive reach (more than even Microsoft and Sony some would say), and I feel like that's what they are banking on. Get people in before the competition does, then make adjustments as needed.

Hardcore Xbox fans will wait for that service, whilst hardcore PS fans will wait for their service - but most other people will go for the first product available on the market, and a high percentage of them will stick with it even after competition arrives (unless the competitors provide a vastly superior product).

 

[Mack]

The whole idea of gaming on a service with more or less noticable lag is like shooting yourself in the head. Sure, it sounds great in the ideal world with ultra high speed and reliable internet access, but I highly doubt streaming will offer a experience not far from having a dedicated hardware. Not anytime soon.

 

[jroc74]

Not really.

Like i see post that say MS/Sony is waiting for the other to reveal before they reveal full specs....IMO at some point you have to just be confident in your product and reveal, release when you want to.

Everyone's shooting themselves in the foot by leaning into cloud streaming so early.

Click to shrink...

But MS and Sony are doing it as options. That to me is better. I think the rumored streaming box from MS is a bad idea tho. Unless its a streaming stick and priced really cheap. Streaming/Digital box is better if they wanna do that.

 

[RestEerie]

 

[Remember]

Honestly it's hard to tell, especially with 5G on the horizon. I've seen some tests that changed my mind about game streaming's future.

 

[NoKisum]

With that thread title, I wonder if anyone's gonna-

Google just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about streaming culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in physical media where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in streaming, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the streaming public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase FFXIII for either system, nor will they purchase any of Google's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Google has alienated an entire market with this move.

Google, publicly apologize and cancel FFXIII for Stadia or you can kiss your business goodbye.

Click to shrink...

Welp, never mind.

 

[srtrestre]

It's definitely a high risk-high reward move. If they fail...

But if they nail the shit out of it, watch out.

 

[Deleted member 6582]

Not really.

No one expects Stadia launch titles/pricing to be expansive or final. But Google has massive reach (more than even Microsoft and Sony some would say), and I feel like that's what they are banking on. Get people in before the competition does, then make adjustments as needed.

Hardcore Xbox fans will wait for that service, whilst hardcore PS fans will wait for their service - but most other people will go for the first product available on the market, and a high percentage of them will stick with it even after competition arrives (unless the competitors provide a vastly superior product).

Click to shrink...

The first product is existing consoles though. There's nothing to support the idea that cloud gaming is solving any problem with the status quo. People are very comfortable with existing consoles.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I think one of the biggest factors will be the games. Third party stuff isn't going to be that big of a draw, you'll be able to play that stuff even if you're like me with a poor connection. A big worry I have is that they'll lean too hard onto the "gimmick" side of things for their titles like we saw in the reveal. Which were cool concepts but nothing that would bring people over outside a "Well that was neat for a few minutes".

I feel like the youtube aspect of this (Which they seem to be gambling a lot of bets on) might not work out as conveniently as they're hoping. Having paid influencers play Stadia games is only going to go so far. Much like how Twitch numbers for some games will instantly drop to nothing once the money to stream from the bigger entities is gone.

 

[Bakercat]

I forgot this was a thing, so maybe yeah.

 

[TheUnseenTheUnheard]

Not at all. They just need to do things right when it actually launches and it will be successful assuming theres an audience for it.

 

[Bowl0l]

Hopefully their network is stable throughout the presentation and during public demo if there is booths for demo. That applies to both Google and Microsoft.

 

[Kliemie]

Its all about the games, so let's just wait for the 6/6 info...

 

[bmfrosty]

Google just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about streaming culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in physical media where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in streaming, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the streaming public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase FFXIII for either system, nor will they purchase any of Google's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Google has alienated an entire market with this move.

Google, publicly apologize and cancel FFXIII for Stadia or you can kiss your business goodbye.

Click to shrink...

Was not disappointed.

 

[qrac]

Stadie is the future and THE service. The only ones that will be a threat to Google is Amazon.

 

[TripaSeca]

If they don't deliver, It'll be the 1st case of ping bullshot.

 

[super moustique]

If they have great SEGA exclusive games...

 

[Samanyolu]

Not going to say that Stadia is DOA already, but I believe it's way too early for a cloud only option. It's not going to be huge and it will definitely bring in some losses for Google. The success will depend on how long Google is willing to take those losses imo. It will one day take off, but are they going to wait that long? Google has a bad track record of new (not bought out) services in my eyes. The competition will be fierce as well. I just don't see Google "winning" this though.

 

[Chrno]

i literally forgot this was a thing, so i'm saying yes.

 

[Cynn]

Stadia's feet were blown off before they even announced it. The industry is teaming up just to shut them down and Google will happily terminate the service the second it hits rough waters.

 

[Terbinator]

Ctrl-F: Expert.

 

[Laser Man]

Having a "Play Now" button under every YT video where a game get's featured is still an insane marketing mechanic, nothing else really matters all that much after that (if it actually works and isn't too expensive)

 

[Pixels]

Having a "Play Now" button under every YT video where a game get's featured is still an insane marketing mechanic, nothing else really matters all that much after that (if it actually works and isn't too expensive)

Click to shrink...

So much this.

 

[ColdSun]

Honestly, with the projects that Google has given up on, I think this will share a similar fate.

Hell, Google+ was shuttered due to being unable to take on Facebook; a service that has no IPs and should have been much closer to what Google already knows and is well-suited for. Gaming? People like what they know. Be it platforms or more importantly IPs. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have quite the stable of exclusives that will keep Google well-behind.

If Google gets shut out early, I imagine they'll throw in the towel like they always do.

 

[bombshell]

It is especially urgent as Microsoft is hosting their E3 conference three days after, and if some aspects of Stadia are poorly received (i.e. monetization, game variety, latency, etc.), Microsoft can fix Xcloud on the spot, make it look like the intended plan, and steal Google's thunder.

Click to shrink...

Just like MS adapted their XB1 reveal after the PS4 reveal and stole Sony's thunder. Wait...

First mover advantage is a thing to establish the talk around you and get competitors to be seen as reacting instead of acting. If you nail your message of course.

 

[FabioNaps]

I'm not sure , does Stadia will work fine with home internet ? if it does it may be a blast , if not will disappear in a blink of an eye, maybe we'll se somethin at this E3 ?

 

[Bufbaf]

I'm wondering if they'll put out a demo phase for people to see if their internet is good enough. I'm in the middle of Germany, in a big city, in a country with a fantastic internet coverage overall, but I'm pretty sure my connection won't be close to being good enough.

I do think streaming - sadly - is the future, but I also do think the future's still not here yet.

 

[bombshell]

I'm not sure , does Stadia will work fine with home internet ? if it does it may be a blast , if not will disappear in a blink of an eye, maybe we'll se somethin at this E3 ?

Click to shrink...

https://www.resetera.com/threads/go...ch-info-price-game-announcements-more.120635/

 

[Iztok]

I was very skeptical at first but after seeing bow Geforce Now improved over time, I'm thinking it may be a ligitimate alternative to local processing after all.

 

[Possumowner]

I'm actually really excited for this,as I can't really afford to buy hardware upfront anymore,guess I could save but that would take ages....It definitely depends on the monthly cost of Stadia for me,I'd be prepared to drop a streaming TV/film service for this.Bring on the 6th

 

[Keldroc]

Poll needs a "No, there is no good time to let your doom in by the front door."

Hyperbole, of course. I don't think Stadia will bomb but it's not going to be the revolution some seem to think it will be. Cloud streaming for games remains a solution in search of a problem in the vast majority of use cases.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Stadie is the future and THE service. The only ones that will be a threat to Google is Amazon.

Click to shrink...

This makes zero sense.

 

[hibikase]

They needed to announce it early so they can kill it faster.

 

[bytesized]

As long as MatPat doesn't make an appearance they'll be ok

 

[Crocks]

I don't think any of the issues you mention matter. It matters for consoles because most people only have one console, especially at the start of the generation. If you buy the PlayStation, it's at the expense of the Saturn and vice versa. So getting that first step right is vital.

This has no buy in. If they fuck up this reveal and Xbox does really well - well, who cares?

 

[Pyro]

I think Google has to get out ahead because of how different their service is and how there are many, many questions to be answered.

 

[Blayde]

revealing early isn't a mistake. but i really doubt they will be successful in the long run. google abandons a lot of products.

 

[zedox]

No, they aren't. They have to sell their service and no one else is doing what they are doing so...no.