Google Stadia Shutting Down
Google Stadia is Google’s cloud-gaming service started in 2019. It allows a user to stream games instead of downloading, much like Netflix or Youtube for video. There is even a special Stadia Controller that did not connect to your device through bluetooth like most controllers, but instead connected via Wifi to the Stadia service to reduce latency. For a while Google had a Chromecast bundle that included a Chromecast Ultra and the Stadia controller. Stadia also has a “Pro” subscription service for $9.99 USD a month that gives you access to select titles for the length of your subscription, and new titles are added monthly. Well, they were anyway. On September 29, 2022 Google announced it would be shutting down Google Stadia on January 18th, 2023.
Google’s Stadia feels like the OnLive gaming service from beginning to end. For a TL;DR, OnLive was a service in the early 2010’s that also promised “Games on Demand” by allowing users to stream to their computers, and a little set-top box if the consumer wanted to purchase one. They shuttered their doors in 2015 and bits and pieces of the technology were sold to other companies. Consumers had to purchase all their games again through OnLive and the service was okay for the time. High Speed internet wasn’t nearly as ubiquitis as it is now, and at the speeds available to most Americans in larger cities. Google Stadia seems to have made a lot of the same mistakes, but what’s worse is that Stadia had Google as a parent company with all of it’s knowledge in cloud computing, during a pandemic that required people to isolate in their homes where they were playing more video games, and during a massive GPU shortage that made PC gaming and even the new Consoles out of reach for many consumers. I think the biggest reason Stadia failed is that it failed to differentiate itself in any meaningful way and create a compelling value proposition.
First Problem: Google
Google is notorious for spinning services up and then killing them off after just a few years. Look no further than the Killed By Google website to see just how many things have been spun up and how short their lives were. Furthermore, Google used GNU/Linux and Vulcan, but it appears that the GNU/Linux distribution they used was not easy to port to/from. So another barrier for Devs wishing to bring their already-made game from one platform to Stadia. There was an in-house development studio for Stadia, but that was also shutdown in 2021. Google did not dedicate the resources to make Stadia great from the beginning. The whole service feels half-baked. Google also failed to focus the Stadia service into performing the best at being a cloud gaming service. They also failed to take advantage of the GPU shortage and chip shortage. Imagine if you could play AAA titles at near 4K resolutions using whatever device you had already. Google could have even positioned itself as a gaming powerhouse in developing countries where users have cell phones, but maybe no game console or computer. If the consumer has to have internet anyway, a $30 dongle and $30 controller are a lot cheaper than any of the competition.
Second Problem: Choice
The second largest problem for Stadia was the game selection. There were a handful of AAA title games, a few indie gems, and a few in-between. There were some co-op games and family games, but the selection was very slim and there was no Stadia exclusive game that I had to have. There was no Spiderman or God of War or Halo that could pull in enough gamers. And as a parent there weren’t enough Couch Co-op games I could play with the kids. A huge chunk of my video game time is spent with my kids playing together. We play TowerFall Ascension, Duck Game, Over Cooked, Kirby’s Dream Buffet, etc. and there’s just nothing like that on Stadia. As for single-player games there were a few really interesting games, but nothing that I couldn’t get or play on Xbox or Switch.
Third Problem: Performance
That brings me to the third issue that Stadia had. The service itself was, okay. I saw a lot more glitches and lag using Stadia then I ever did with Xcloud or PS Now. I’ve not tried GeForce Now yet, so I can’t speak to its quality. But for a service that is only cloud streaming, there were far too many hiccups in the service to recommend it. And yes, I was connected via gigabit ethernet to my laptop and my home internet is 600Mbps down, 5Mbps up. It’s not like those were bottlenecks. The Stadia App on my Google TV was pretty garbage, too, and even playing using the Chromecast Ultra was not a stellar experience. The other problem is that while Stadia could be used with an Xbox or Playstation controller hard-wired to your device, the Stadia controller was the better experience if you didn’t want to be tethered. But the experience over all was so meh that some games just weren’t fun to play.
Big Problem: Value
Stadias biggest problem, though, is the way Google had you build your library. You had to either purchase all your games again, or subscribe to Stadia Pro ($9.99 USD a month) and receive select games for “free”. While the subscription model for media consumption is nothing new (Netflix, Hulu, Spotify) the costs are low enough that people don’t think about it but the amount of content and convenience and quality of the service are “good enough.” For example, Spotify doesn’t have every song ever, but it has enough of the most popular music and enough of the lesser known or obscure music to satisfy almost anybody. You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned Gamepass yet, but I think that’s a little different.
Xcloud is not a core part of what makes Gamepass good. It is really nice to have, and for games that you’re not sure you want to download but you do want to try out it’s a good way to sample them through the service. More recently I used Xcloud to play Slay the Spire when we were at my dad’s house visiting. His internet is 7Mbps down and I was able to reliably stream and play on my ChromeOS tablet with no issues, BUT It was more of a neat addition to my subscription, not the reason I have Gamepass Ultimate. I also know that while I don’t own the games with Gamepass, I can still purchase those games later digitally or in physical format. Xbox as a brand is also on it’s third generation of consoles, and the track record for Xbox support from Microsoft has actually been very solid. Nvidia’s GeForce Now service imports your games from Steam and Epic and Ubisoft, so there’s a very good chance you’ll have a huge library to stream from games you already own. You’re just paying Nvidia money to use their servers.
Conclusion
Stadia’s biggest failure was that the consumer had to invest in a whole new library on a platform that hadn’t been proven owned by a company with a track record of cancelling services at the drop of a hat. As a consumer why would I invest $60 for Octopath traveler on Stadia when I can buy it for Switch or Xbox, or get it with my Gamepass Ultimate subscription? Stadia lacked a key differentiator and services like Xcloud and PS Now Streaming are perks of the main services they attach to. GeForce Now is the only “direct” competitor and it imports your current library and you pay for the use of Nvidia’s equipment each month. Much like the Wii U failed because it lacked a clear differentiator, Stadia did not have any One thing that made it stand out from Xcloud, GeForce Now, and PS Now. If Google had made all the games available through Stadia Pro the value proposition would have been very different. Google could have decided to charge $10 a month and allow me to stream all the games available then it would have been a much better value proposition and also fits more in line with what consumers expect out of services like Spotify or Netflix. It’s not all bad, though. If you purchased games through Stadia and if you purchased hardware through the Google store you’ll be seeing a refund on those purchases from Google. While not perfect, that is a very consumer-friendly thing to do.