Google Stadia: Thread 01

[nonny]

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/07/29/epic-ceo-says-so-few-people-play-stadia-that-a-fortnite-port-isnt-worth-doing/

Well surely it's dead now? No Fortnite?

[MartyG]

It's dying because everything Google is doing is stupid.

I got an email from Stadia this morning, it started well, "Play Borderlands 3 for Free this weekend" - I might take a look, I thought to myself as I haven't played the game, scrolled down a bit more, Stadia Pro Subscription required. So not going to bother then, it's not playing for free is it? It's playing for fee.

I don't understand why Google keeps making these blunders - if you want to get people on your platform, give them a reason to, not road blocks.

[nonny]

Yeah I don't get their strategy. After all the fanfare of launch they've let it limp along like a lame dog...

Incidentally it seems Borderlands 3 is free to play this weekend on other platforms as I just saw something on HotUKDeals... Maybe it's not just stadia.

[MartyG]

It is, you can play it on Steam for actual free - no subscription required or anything, albiet full of Denuvo.

[hudson]

Anyone here got Stadia? Having not got a decent (20 year old tech lol) and not wanting to put up with the current state of Cyberpunk on consoles, I had a look at that game on Stadia and I have to say it looks great. I have a 1Gb internet connect, is Stadia worth it?

Then again, I thought the subscription would give me free access to all the games ala Game Pass or PS Now, but erm I was gravely mistaken. Saying that, not having a decnent PC and access to some decent games... Hmm.

Anyone recommend it?

[MartyG]

Anyone recommend it?

Haven't you read through this thread?

Absolutely not.

[Nu-Eclipse]

As much as I'm STILL a considerable sceptic about Stadia, I nearly buckled when they ran the free Stadia with Cyberpunk 2077 pre-order promo a while ago, but I resisted.

Having got a Chromecast with Google TV for Xmas, I suppose I could still yet buckle and give Stadia a try...but inexplicably, Google somehow failed to make the new high-end flagship Chromecast model (that replaces the discontinued Chromecast Ultra that comes with Stadia) Stadia-compatible out of the box. A system update to rectify that is supposedly coming sometime in early 2021 but such glaring failure to pay attention to detail like this only solidifies in my mind why Stadia is still likely to fail imo.

[kryss]

YouTube Premium subscribers had a promotion in November for a free Stadia Premier Edition if they signed up for one month free trial of Stadia Pro. So now I have one, played a few games before cancelling my Pro subscription. I bought Borderlands 3 for 79¢ due to a price promotion and a.$10 off coupon. Naturally, I've not played it yet.

It is nice that you can stream the game to another device like a phone or tablet instead of only to the Chromecast Ultra, but no 4K then of course.

Would I buy one? No.

[teddymeow]

Embedded Tweet

Stadia is, well, pretty much dead. Google closing their first party studios. Jade Redmond has left.

[nonny]

Ouch... I wonder if the talent will be picked up by the other big companies currently scouting for mergers and acquisitions?

I wouldn't be surprised to see Amazon, MS, Sony etc... grab whatever is falling out of this news.

[Neon Ignition]

Dust in the wind I reckon, the studios never got off the ground to begin with so there's nothing for other companies to really grab onto, the key staff will be job hunting anyway. The corpse pile of attempts at the streaming future keeps getting higher despite the constant premonitions of its dominance.

[briareos_kerensky]

I'm pretty sure other streaming services will love to pick up experienced devs.

[nonny]

I'm pretty sure other streaming services will love to pick up experienced devs.

This is what I am thinking. I don't think any projects will be salvaged but there are certainly developers looking for a gig and plenty of companies in the market to ramp up talent.

It's a shame Google didn't deliver this smarter early on. Not having an all you can eat subscription model hurt the prospects even though the tech seemed on point... With Amazon Luna and Xbox Cloud now expanding you'd just see this as just adding to the hurt for Stadia. I wouldn't be surprised if it got shuttered for good in 12 months.

[MartyG]

The engineers that created Stadia won't be going anywhere, Google are getting rid of the game dev teams they created about 18 months ago.

[Asura]

Thank god. Hopefully this is the first domino.

Sorry for those who lost their jobs but I kinda relish everything I see that knocks streaming away from mainstream success.