Google hoped to become the household name for streaming-based consoles with the Stadia. It’s been a rocky development period and an even rockier post-release period for the console. Recently, the search engine giant decided to abandon all of its first-party game development to focus on the console’s improvement. That decision soon proved to be a crucial mistake but it now seems that Google Stadia in general doesn’t seem to have much of a strong foundation to stand on.
A FATAL MISSTEP
The Stadia was meant to disrupt the home console market but it’s having enough trouble earning a decent market share. A recent report by Bloomberg revealed most of Google’s struggles since the launch of the Stadia. Above all, one of Google Stadia’s biggest faults is the system that forces players to pay for games individually as opposed to a singular subscription service like Xbox’s Game Pass. Players find it more difficult to purchase games if it only exists on Google’s servers as opposed to on the device itself. Additionally, the ported games themselves seem to cause trouble for Google. Red Dead Redemption 2 allegedly cost the company “tens of millions” of dollars to be able to bring it to Stadia.
Breaking into the tough console market is a difficult business. Ultimately, it feels like Google approached the situation haphazardly with its questionable decisions. Most recently, the shutdown of its internal studios has drawn more skepticism about the future of Google Stadia.
Google boldly promised its players that the console will receive “more than 100” games in 2021 but it will undoubtedly be a tough year for Stadia owners.