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The game-streaming platform Google Stadia is making a big change, announcing that it will no longer develop games. In a blog post from industry veteran and head of Stadia, Phil Harrison, the executive said Google is focusing on fleshing out Stadia’s technology and will back away from actually developing games for it.
“Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games,” the statement said. “Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles. We’re committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them.”
Google’s game-making studios in Los Angeles and Montreal are closing as part of this news, according to Kotaku. Around 150 developers are said to be impacted. According to the report, Google is trying to place the affected developers in new positions within Google.
Jade Raymond, who was among Google Stadia’s biggest-name hires for its new game studios, is leaving Google as part of the shakeup. “We greatly appreciate Jade’s contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors,” Google said.
Alex Hutchinson, the head of the Stadia team in Montreal that was acquired in 2019, reacted to the news with a tongue-in-cheek tweet. “What a time to be alive,” he said.
A source told Kotaku: “Google was a terrible place to make games. Imagine Amazon, but under-resourced.”
The Stadia and Stadia Pro platforms will remain operational in the wake of this news. “You can continue playing all your games on Stadia and Stadia Pro, and we’ll continue to bring new titles from third parties to the platform,” Google said. “We’re committed to the future of cloud gaming, and will continue to do our part to drive this industry forward. Our goal remains focused on creating the best possible platform for gamers and technology for our partners, bringing these experiences to life for people everywhere.”
You can read Google’s full statement below.
Google Stadia Statement:
“We launched Stadia with the goal of making your favorite games instantly available wherever you want to play them. With the recent successful launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia, gameplay on all types of devices, including iOS, growing our slate of YouTube integrations, and our global expansions, it’s clear that Stadia’s technology has been proven and works at scale. Having games streamed to any screen is the future of this industry, and we’ll continue to invest in Stadia and its underlying platform to provide the best cloud gaming experience for our partners and the gaming community. This has been the vision of Stadia since the beginning.
In 2021, we’re expanding our efforts to help game developers and publishers take advantage of our platform technology and deliver games directly to their players. We see an important opportunity to work with partners seeking a gaming solution all built on Stadia’s advanced technical infrastructure and platform tools. We believe this is the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry.
Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially. Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games. With the increased focus on using our technology platform for industry partners, Jade Raymond has decided to leave Google to pursue other opportunities. We greatly appreciate Jade’s contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles. We’re committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them.
What does this mean if you’re a current or future Stadia gamer? You can continue playing all your games on Stadia and Stadia Pro, and we’ll continue to bring new titles from third parties to the platform. We’re committed to the future of cloud gaming, and will continue to do our part to drive this industry forward. Our goal remains focused on creating the best possible platform for gamers and technology for our partners, bringing these experiences to life for people everywhere.”
