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Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

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Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#411

Post by snoopy_telex »

JJMcJ wrote: post #367
Workaccount2 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I don't sign on to anything new google does for a few years now. It's going to be buggy but promising initially, then be poorly supported, and then be cancelled leaving you high and dry. If I was a large shareholder I'd be yelling to ditch Sundar everyday. The guy is a total idiot just floating by on ads dollars. Google could be so much more if they reorganized into conventional dedicated teams and stoppe…

Maps, Voice, and Docs, seem to be here to stay. Not sure about anything else. Except Search, of course, I suppose they won't close that down any time soon.

I don’t think voice is as sure as you say it is. They has a push recently to kick off low traffic users. I’m concerned about my voice number personally.

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#412

Post by ohgodplsno »

activitypea wrote: post #392
ohgodplsno wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. In fact, the incompetent people at the head of those projects fail upwards. Take Phil Harrison, who is at the head of Stadia (not Stadia Games and Studios): - Worked at Sony Entertainment, handling the software side of things, was there to help for the massive fuckup that was the PS3 launch. - Got fired (or "resigned" in C-level speak), joined Infogrames (soon to become Atari) and majorly fucked up, saying that s…

I don't feel it's fair to say Gaikai failed miserably. They were on par with other competitors such as OnLive. That whole first generation of game streaming created a new market, but was ultimately too early -- the internet infrastructure they were betting on didn't come soon enough to enable their product to take off. At that point, getting acquired by the biggest dog in the gaming industry is the best possible outc…

Gaikai failed miserably, the same way OnLive failed miserably. Yes, the infrastructure was not there, but also, the product itself was just not ready. If I start selling prototype home fusion reactors that don't react and I get bought by , it's not a success, the thing literally didn't work.

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#413

Post by camel_Snake »

ChildOfChaos wrote: post #400
swozey wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's come a long way since pre-Stadia that's for sure. Can't get around the monthly fee though.

Is performance better now? I was in the beta when there wasn't a limited selection of games and my friend used the free version once it came out of beta about a year and a half ago.

It's been my main gaming platform the last 2 years and I'd describe it as more than serviceable. They do a bunch of free demos now - I think WaveTale is free for the next 24hrs you can try it out yourself. The subscription is optional.

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#414

Post by kingaillas »

wrayjustin wrote: post #46
petercooper wrote: post #6

I avoided checking Stadia out in the first place as I thought they'd end up shutting it down after prior experiences. This seems a difficult branding loop to break, but does them no favors.

It really doesn't! The common responses you hear in these types of threads include "I didn't even try it; because I knew it would get killed." And of course, this results in lower turnout, and eventual death of the offering. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. So what's Google to even do? * They could burn money and keep the offering afloat to "prove" they are serious (seems to be the case with Stadia). *…

>So what's Google to even do?

If they were serious about Stadia, Google should have worked to provide experiences only Stadia could allow. That was one tagline of SG&E before it was canned a mere 18 months in - clear failure on Google's part because you can't develop a game that fast.

As for what could have gone differently - cut deals with smart TV manufacturers to include the Stadia app on the TV, making it easy for millions to try it out.

Instead, the Stadia app wasn't even on the Chromecast initially. (OK, memory vague here but I remember having to fiddle around and after upgrading from the Chromecast that came with the Cyberpunk 2077 bundle to Google TV with Chromecast or whatever they were calling it, it was still a while before the Stadia app was there or left beta).

I also thought Google should have done a sports game tie-in, or perhaps F1 racing, to essentially let viewers replay something they just watched. Kind of a live replay, where YOU control the offense/defense/car. Say you're watching a soccer match and team X scores. During a break, advertise Stadia's version of FIFA, click a button and replay the scoring play where you control one of the teams. Can you also score, or can you defend??

Yes this would be complicated licensing and software between TV ads, game maker, license holders, etc. but it would have showcased an advantage Stadia had over traditional consoles/pc gamers - immediacy, play right on your TV in response to something you just watched. Brady just score a touchdown - can you do it to, or play defense and stop it (pick up Stadia controller, click some buttons or whatever and get dropped into that scenario, ready to play)??

I think this would have had insane appeal among sports fans, building excitement, etc. But no, Stadia just crapped itself and cancelled their in-house studio and basically tread water for the rest of the time.

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#415

Post by mrweasel »

bushbaba wrote: post #366
Workaccount2 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I don't sign on to anything new google does for a few years now. It's going to be buggy but promising initially, then be poorly supported, and then be cancelled leaving you high and dry. If I was a large shareholder I'd be yelling to ditch Sundar everyday. The guy is a total idiot just floating by on ads dollars. Google could be so much more if they reorganized into conventional dedicated teams and stoppe…

Sundar is doing what the shareholders want. Grow ads revenue while distracting regulators from a google anti trust lawsuit.

Exactly, technically I don't think shareholders much care about where the revenue comes from. Killing off product that don't make a profit within a year launch might actually be what shareholders want.

We tend to forget that modern shareholders don't care much about which companies their money is invested in, it's just a stock with some numbers in a spreadsheet making the difference between investing in Google vs. Exxon.

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#416

Post by rvz »

lenova wrote: post #289
jsnell wrote: post #75

This is an anonymous source (not even verified by the original publicizer of the rumor) reporting second hand on what their "regional manager" friend heard in a "seminar". Why give any credence to this? This is about as close as it gets to "my friend has an uncle working at Nintendo" level of sourcing, but it's being taken as absolute fact by basically everyone in this thread. Mr. Killedbygoogle doesn't seem to be al…

Goolge Stadia twitter account is saying the rumour is false: https://twitter.com/GoogleStadia/status/1552989433590214656

Of course they will. They are not 'shutting down soon'. They will be shutting down by the end of autumn.

They don't want to scare their users and confirm that it really is shutting down immediately today, or next week. This account is damage control at its finest and Google will release a statement and then wind all of Stadia down, including that Twitter account in denial. Given that Stadia failed in the pandemic, it already failed in general.

I mean, I did say that this information was given to me from the future [0] so I've already watched this unfold once. Now it is unfolding for the second time for real.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27039202

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#418

Post by Aeolun »

anonymousab wrote: post #394
lelandfe wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Q: If the Stadia service is discontinued, do we know what (if anything) will happen with game purchases? > Andrey Doronichev, then Stadia Director of Product: > We get this a lot. I hear you. Moving to the cloud is scary. I felt the same way when music was transitioning from files to streaming. I still have all my old CDs in the garage… although it's hard to find a CD player these days :) > The same happened to Mov…

The best part is how he just completely avoided actually answering the question. They simply refused to ever give a clear answer. Because they know the answer, and we know the answer, and it's all bad for them. Rather than engineer a system where the answer could be more positive, they stick their fingers in their ears (the most charitable interpretation).

I don’t understand why he didn’t just respond that your games will be gone. Or at least “in the worst case, your games might be gone”. People aren’t stupid, they know exactly what the evasive answer means, so why evade at all?

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#419

Post by Cederfjard »

gambiting wrote: post #345
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the product you're using isn't the one you bought.

That's like saying that if you're watching a blu ray rip of your own purchased disc, it isn't the same product you bought. Technically correct, but it's completely legal to rip your own discs(at least in the EU, can't comment on other countries).

You seem to be saying (and be certain of) that in the EU, were Steam to be discontinued, it'd be completely legal for you to download a crack to bypass the DRM for the game you were previously licensed to play through Valve's platform. Is this established as a matter of law? Could you share any links on the topic?

If it wouldn't be legal, then downloading the crack to the game you paid to play through Steam but can't anymore would presumably be just as illegal as pirating the whole game to begin with. Did you really purchase the game or just an indefinite (but not necessarily eternal) license to play it?

Re: Rumor: Google Stadia May Be Getting Shut Down

#420

Post by whywhywhywhy »

Honestly wonder how many people didn't get on board with Stadia because the fear Google might shut it down, even though they would be completely bought into the cloud hardware idea. Definitely not zero, could have been many who are about to have their suspicions confirmed.

Google just doesn't have the guts to take on videogames, it needs many years of throwing literally millions onto a bonfire of gambles to create exclusives and license a compelling content library and the returns wont come till much later.

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