Google announced on September 30 that the service of the cloud game service STADIA will end. On the other hand, the announcement seems to have been water in the ears for game developers and distributors.
STADIA is a cloud game service provided by Google. The game is running on the server side, and users can play streaming game play on Google’s smartphone Pixel series, Chrome OS tablet, Chromecast Ultra, etc. In November 2019, we launched a wide range of games, from major manufacturers to indie games.
In this announcement, Google explained that STADIA was not as supported as expected, so he decided to end the service. In the future, subscribers will be able to play the game until January 18, 2023. And all Stadia hardware purchased at Google Store, and all purchased games and add-on content will be refunded to users. Most of the refunds are expected to be completed in mid-January 2023.
On the other hand, the end of the STADIA service seems to have been informed by game developers. One of the indie game studio SFB GAMES Tom Via is one of them. The studio’s Tangle Tower was scheduled to be released in STADIA two days after local time. However, he was not informed about the end of STADIA’s service, and was first learned of the announcement in an overseas media THE VERGE article.
Via’s tweet has many users a reply that shows sympathy. There are also reports that another developer, who had been released in STADIA, had not been informed of the service end. According to REBECCA LINEMAN, the CEO of Indie Game Company Old Skull, the company’s new work has been released on STADIA on November 1. However, it seems that the company had not been notified of the end of STADIA’s service.
Not only small game studios, but also major game companies may not have been informed about the end of STADIA. The new DLC Tentative Freedom of Cyberpunk 2077 announced on September 7 this month did not support the PS4/Xbox One version, but it was announced that it would support STADIA. In addition, Dead Island 2 was announced on August 24 when the release date was announced on February 3, 2023, and Stadia was announced as a compatible platform. The situation of each studio may not have been in advance to the game development and distributors to prevent rumors of the end of the service before the announcement.
Some replies sent to Via mentioned earlier are concerned about the effects of the service termination on developers. According to Dylan Gedig, the founder of Indie Game Studio Red Nexus Games, STADIA had paid a solid payment for the game play time. Therefore, the end of STADIA’s service has shown his opinion that many developers will go crazy.
Publisher MORE ROBOTS co-founder Mike Rose was also surprised at the end of the STADIA service and was concerned that the income from STADIA would be cut off. No More Robots also seems to have a work scheduled to be released in STADIA in November. He posted in the tweet that continued, saying that this was the reason why he was not willing to respond to STADIA. Furthermore, he pointed out that there was no contact from the STADIA side, and the future response was unclear. He seems tired of Google’s unilateral response.
The service of STADIA, which seems to have been water in the ears not only for game developers but also for the distributor, is over. It will be a little painful for small studios, especially for STADIA’s release and profits. Does Google provide some kind of response to the developer and seller?