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Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

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Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#501

Post by sergiotapia »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #195
bastawhiz wrote: post #185

I'm dumbfounded at Google's lack of planning on this. I tried Stadia, and they had (have?) so few games that they seem to have neither search nor pagination on the list that you can play. None of the games are ones that I care about. It feels like they could have—at the cost of short-term profit and pride—partnered with Valve and shipped something mind-blowing. But instead we're left with a bunch of AAA games that fe…

Everyone knew this was a bad idea, and the truly curious thing is, how does anyone who greenlit this on any level still have a job? Stadia had a narrow set of interesting use cases around features deeply integrated with Google products: Zero of them were ready for launch, and I think all but one are still unavailable today. The value for gamers is debateable at best, but exclusive titles would be the only serious way…

It's not confusing when you realize the owner of this product has his badge of releasing a "major google product" and probably a bonus. Who cares if it's successful or not, google certainly doesn't seem to care.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#502

Post by Kiro »

FridgeSeal wrote: post #479
ehsankia wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> after Google inevitably shuts down stadia and you’re left with nothing There is literally no way Google shuts down Stadia and doesn't refund people their money and let them export their save files (you can already do the latter). So no, the worst worst case is that you got to play on Stadia for free and if you really want the game again you can use that money to buy it somewhere else.

Like all those people who paid for Google music for years and then when it was killed and replaced with YouTube music lost out because some stuff wasn’t on there, or wasn’t available in their country, etc right?

Did they actually remove purchased tracks? Or just couldn't stream the same songs? You buy the games on Stadia so the comparison only works if it is the former.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#503

Post by ramphastidae »

mckeed wrote: post #495
ramphastidae wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: does Google operate a single profitable business besides AdWords?

Android, G-Suite, even YouTube (though that is also advertising)

Huh? Android is OSS. YouTube has never posted a profit.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#504

Post by de6u99er »

bastawhiz wrote: post #185

I'm dumbfounded at Google's lack of planning on this. I tried Stadia, and they had (have?) so few games that they seem to have neither search nor pagination on the list that you can play. None of the games are ones that I care about. It feels like they could have—at the cost of short-term profit and pride—partnered with Valve and shipped something mind-blowing. But instead we're left with a bunch of AAA games that fe…

If Google didn't make tons of money with ads through it's search engine, the comoany would IMO already be bankrupt.

It's almost as if Google product development stops a v0.8. Maybe time to have the company run by engineers instead of PhD's.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#505

Post by enos_feedler »

jeremyjh wrote: post #448
enos_feedler wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Stadia does not assume you know how to use a gaming PC. Steam and Epic might be fine if you already know what those things are. If you don't, it is far too complex. Billions of people understand the simple app store model that comes with their phone. It's the one stadia uses.

Have you ever used Steam on Geforce Now? There is absolutely no friction. You do not even have to know Steam exists. You just search for the game you want, and do one more sign-up.

I have. I used Geforce now, stadia, luna. I bought the hardware controllers. I've tried all of these platforms across all different form factors (pcs, laptop, ipads, iphones, android, LG television). I've signed up for individual games, game publisher channels UBISoft+. I invest millions of dollars into companies and my thesis is product driven. All of this is research I conduct myself, for myself. That isn't to say these services have gotten better since I last tested (Geforce i probably tested in November). From what I remember, it was a PC virtual machine with a queue system for availability. It wasn't "magic". Stadia is magic. Luna is somewhere in between.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#506

Post by kllrnohj »

rco8786 wrote: post #198

This is totally the right move. I am a (very happy) user of Stadia. If you haven't tried it, you really should...it's an amazing piece of tech. I can find myself with 20-30 minutes worth of downtime during the day, fire up Cyberpunk 2077 or Hitman or Assassin's Creed in moments from my browser *on a macbook* and play at high settings with no noticeable lag. Obviously you need a strong, steady internet connection for…

I tried it and was far less impressed. It was a novelty that quickly grew stale playing on my phone, that aspect seemed questionable at best. If I wanted to actually do some gaming on the TV, it was quite inferior to the (now quite old) PS4 Pro. That leaves it in an awkward middle ground. Where I'm both on my laptop, but I also happen to have better input devices handy. Since if I'm going to get up to go fetch a controller or a mouse, I'm just gonna plop in front of the TV anyway.

Travelling would have been an interesting use (although not interesting enough to buy games a second time), but, well, not a great past year for that.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#507

Post by enos_feedler »

p1necone wrote: post #440
enos_feedler wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question for me is if it works on a cheap notebook or on the road, why wouldn't you just want to play it this way even when you are at home? Why do I want to own anything? I just want to play the games I bought.

Because playing with video compression, a max of 60fps and added latency is not ideal.

That's a fair point. I take this as being similar to reading a book on an iPad vs a kindle. Sure I can read a book on an iPad, but a kindle gives me a better "book experience". Streaming games is like reading a book on an iPad. Owning a PC or console is like reading the book on a device that is better suited for the format.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#508

Post by enos_feedler »

gsich wrote: post #404
enos_feedler wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question for me is if it works on a cheap notebook or on the road, why wouldn't you just want to play it this way even when you are at home? Why do I want to own anything? I just want to play the games I bought.

Not possible with Stadia. You have to buy the games again to stream them. Why? Probably less latency/better quality with a PC.

Is Cyberpunk better on a PC or better on Stadia? I've heard it's the best to play on Stadia.

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#509

Post by myko »

mattlondon wrote: post #34

Until you can play your Steam game library (and perhaps Epic and Unisoft and GOG) on Stadia, I think they'll struggle. I have paid for Geforce Now which does let you play Steam et al games (although not everything is available which is annoying) - it is about £4 a month currently (or free if you can spend time waiting to play) and the experience feels largely the same to Stadia to me in terms of latency and quality.…

GeForce Now has a much worse UX than Stadia and lags a lot on my iPad compared to Stadia

But having your entire Steam library is very cool

Re: Google Stadia shuts down internal studios, changing business focus

#510

Post by enos_feedler »

oivey wrote: post #473
KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just go read /r/stadia or the /r/games thread covering this, yes people are convinced by this and there's many comments talking about how they can't stand the UX on GFN. Too inexperienced to use technology is a strawman, the real comparison is do they prefer the benefit of the better UX more than they fear the amorphous dangers of lock-in. The answer is easily yes.

Do a handful of posts on the tiny Stadia subreddit justify the massive investment Google has made to create yet another App Store? Is the market of people who use Apple Mail because they don’t know how to register a Gmail account large and profitable enough for them to justify the investment? The problem isn’t just lock in. There are also less games on Stadia. The lack of available games is directly due to Google’s s…

Actually, yes. I am a professional investor with a product-driven thesis. Sub-reddits are one of the most honest, representative samples for the quality and love for a product by the market. I bet millions on this.
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