Dear Developers,
If you haven't heard by now... Google has shut down the internal studios for its Stadia platform. I shared my concern in a prior post some time back because I didn't know where the platform would go as a streaming service. There are multiple options for gaming, so you have to make sure that you're on point with everything regarding your service or products.
Google isn't completely shutting down Stadia, it's their first-party games... which tends to be the siding factor on what platform a gamer will invest in. Closing studios is... not a good look!
They could have taken the 3rd party route first, making multiplatform games (under... "Google Games" or "Stadia Studios" or something) and built up a library before they took the Stadia platform route.
At the same time, they could have just started on Google Play and built up their 1st party developer status. From there they could have flipped it and made console games available on Chromecast w/ Google TV once it was ready and keep the achievements tied to the same system as mobile apps. I just think there was too much going on to do too much because the competitors have been strong in the console department... and PC is a beast so the best bet would've been Google Play.
When the time came for streaming, all the games would've needed in Google Play was their own category representing first party originals with a little label to represent them as stream-only titles.
Ideas may seem great at the time, but... it's always good to take the best route for longevity and victory. You don't want to spread yourself thing only to exhaust much-needed resources. I don't know what the cancellation of first-party games will mean for Stadia, but... if they bundle it with another service I think it could survive.
Overall, they need to keep 1st & 2nd party development in the conversation... because Onlive was 3rd party-only too, and you saw what happened there. Two of the studios will close which will impact 150 developers... and that sucks royally. Try again when you can Google, but... slow your roll.
Read more on Google's plan to close their Montreal & LA studios... here!
