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Google is closing its in-house game development division Stadia, the company announced today, as it refocuses Stadia to become a hotbed for streaming games from existing developers instead of developing its own games for the service. .
“Creating top-notch games from scratch takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is growing exponentially,” read a blog post by Phil Harrison, vice president of Google and general manager of Stadia. “Given our willingness to build on Stadia’s proven technology and deepen our business partnerships, we have decided not to invest further in bringing exclusive content from our internal SG&E development team, beyond games planned in the short term. “
As part of the change, the company is closing its Los Angeles and Montreal game studios, which both existed under the Stadia Games and Entertainment banner. Google claims that “most SG&E [Stadia Games and Entertainment] The team will move into new roles, ”but Jade Raymond – the Ubisoft and EA veteran who led the Stadia studio teams – will be leaving the company altogether.
Stadia itself, alongside the $ 9.99 Stadia Pro subscription service, will continue to exist in the future, and Google may continue to try and secure third-party exclusive (or exclusive over time) titles to offer. via its subscription. All “near planned” games will also be available on Stadia.
But the shutdown of Stadia’s internal studios marks a blow to Google’s gaming ambitions. Beyond the simple technicalities of the streaming service itself, the fact that Google was willing to invest in several proprietary studios was one of the most important elements of Stadia’s original vision.
The fact that Google is making games for the brand new streaming service – titles that in theory would take advantage of its unique cloud technology – showed just how seriously Google is investing in Stadia. It was also a sign that the company aspired to someday introduce exclusives that could provide compelling competition to companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, all of which rely heavily on their own in-house studios to create key exclusive games to entice retailers. players at their service.
The fact that Stadia will no longer be in the game creation business makes some sense: developing an AAA title is an incredibly expensive endeavor. But that also means the future of Stadia will likely be relegated to another option where you can play the same games you can already play on a PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC.
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