Does Google’s ambitious venture into the gaming industry fail?
3. März 2020Does Google’s ambitious venture into the gaming industry fail?
New York, March 3, 2020
After years of development and hype, Google launched its video game platform with Google Stadia last November. It is neither a game console nor a game platform – it is a digital storefront from Google in which you can buy individual games. Google Stadia is undoubtedly an extremely ambitious new platform – a kind of Netflix of gaming.
How does Stadia work? Instead of downloading games or playing from a Blu-ray disc, Stadia broadcasts games to users wherever they are – it’s like Netflix streaming movies and TV shows.
The fact that Google considers this offer to be significant became clear from the fact that Google CEO Sundar Pichai himself already presented Stadia at the annual game developer conference in San Francisco in March 2019. However, four months after Stadia started, the service for games is still extremely weak: as of this week, only 28 titles are available. According to Google, another 120 games will take place in Stadia this year, including some big blockbusters such as „DOOM Eternal“ and „Cyberpunk 2077“. This is reported by „Business Insider“.
However, do many fans miss dozens of indie hits that have helped strengthen the libraries of Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft’s Xbox One and Nintendo’s Switch? Where are the games like „Bloodstained“, „Shovel Knight“, „Dead Cells“ and „Untitled Goose Game“ – the blockbuster indie games that sell millions of copies and inspire sequels?
Insiders believe these games are critical to the success of any new gaming platform. Of the 28 games currently available on Stadia, only four would fall into the indie category.
Research by indie developers showed that Google wanted to pay too little. „It is that there is not enough money there,“ a publisher is quoted as saying. „Business insider“ added: „All the people we spoke to and who asked for anonymity due to the ongoing employment in the video game industry agreed with this assessment – and said that Google simply does not offer enough money, among other concerns.“
The consequence of this is that Google Stadia could eventually give up and stop the service. Stadia representative Patrick Seybold commented: „The publishers and developers we talk to regularly support us very much and want Stadia to be successful. It is also worth noting that so far not every publisher has announced their games for Stadia announced in due course. „He also publishes a list of all major publishers that Google works with, including major corporations such as EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft, 2K Games, and Rockstar Games.
Gaming fans‘ answer: But the vast majority of indie hits are not released by these massive publishers. EA creates and publishes „Madden“ and „FIFA“. Bethesda makes and publishes „DOOM“ and „Elder Scrolls“. Ubisoft makes and releases „Assassin’s Creed“ and „Ghost Recon“.