In a move that is sure to raise plenty of eyebrows, and worry Stadia supporters, Google has announced they're shutting down SG&E (Stadia Games & Entertainment) and no longer doing first-party games.
They make it clear in the announcement that Stadia as a platform isn't going away, and they believe game streaming is "the future of this industry" and so they will "continue to invest in Stadia and its underlying platform to provide the best cloud gaming experience for our partners and the gaming community". It gets more interesting though, as Google said they will be expanding to "help game developers and publishers take advantage of our platform technology and deliver games directly to their players" and they will be working with partners who want a streaming solution.
Google clearly mention how costly it is to create big AAA games, and as Amazon have seen it doesn't always work out and burns a lot of money. Instead, the focus will be to "focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships" and on that note they mentioned that Jade Raymond has left Google now too.
Sounds like Google are going to be licensing the tech and hardware behind Stadia, while continuing to build up Stadia as a store itself. It makes a lot more sense, as big costly exclusives from Stadia for Stadia won't have enough of a pull to pay-off, whereas pulling in more and more 3rd party popular games will and would cost Google less to do. So, it is the smart move overall. The Stadia tech is good too, and it clearly works so they're doing what they do best in this way.
The thing is, it's another nail in the coffin of the idea Google sold it all on originally. The talk about these huge games that could only work in the cloud, which you're not likely to see from a 3rd party developer since their games will need to run on PC and consoles too most of the time.
So don't expect any Google / Stadia first-party titles after this year, if any of them come out at all. To be clear though, Google note they are "committed to the future of cloud gaming, and will continue to do our part to drive this industry forward" and that the Stadia store will continue bringing in more titles. Still, it won't stop people mentioning the Google Graveyard.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: KimyrielleQuoting: MohandevirHave you tried buying PC hardware lately?
Actually yes. Last Christmas. And spontaneously decided that my old PC will serve me well for another year. I know that -right now-, gaming PCs are almost impossible to buy.
But unless you're trying to say that the pandemic (which is ultimately the root cause for this) will become permanent, this is not relevant for the future of cloud gaming vs local gaming. The hardware market will eventually return to normal conditions.
And I guess the other side of the coin is that more people have mid sized PCs at home again now.
Comandante Ñoñardo Feb 2, 2021
Quoting: EikeAnd I guess the other side of the coin is that more people have mid sized PCs at home again now.
And developers must optimize their games for these mid range hardware.
Mohandevir Feb 2, 2021
Quoting: EikeQuoting: KimyrielleQuoting: MohandevirHave you tried buying PC hardware lately?
Actually yes. Last Christmas. And spontaneously decided that my old PC will serve me well for another year. I know that -right now-, gaming PCs are almost impossible to buy.
But unless you're trying to say that the pandemic (which is ultimately the root cause for this) will become permanent, this is not relevant for the future of cloud gaming vs local gaming. The hardware market will eventually return to normal conditions.
And I guess the other side of the coin is that more people have mid sized PCs at home again now.
I don't know about that... Maybe. Thing is, the problem comes from ressources used in the fabrications of many components... If I got it right, the same ressources are also used in many other electronic appliances, so part of the available ressources might not even have been used to produce PC components. Time will tell...
Quoting: dziadulewiczQuoting: sarmadRIP, Stadia.
and f*ck you Goolag altogether!
Why the hate? Out of all the big companies, Google is the most respectful of open source, and the only big company that always supported Linux with their tools.
Mohandevir Feb 2, 2021
Quoting: TheRiddickI challenge people to actually TRY the other options... There are many,.
Seriously... Is there one of those many streaming solutions that can run on top of a Linux host? Because personnally, a streaming service that relies on a Windows host machine (GeForce Now or Luna) is a no-go. There is no way I'm going to give my Steam Linux sales to Windows.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 2 February 2021 at 9:22 pm UTC
RandomizedKirbyTree47 Feb 2, 2021
Quoting: Liam DaweAlso, you cover browser-based games that aren't "streamed" and use HTML5/WebGL/WebAssembly to run the game locally. Why? Because web browsers run on Linux, and hence you can play browser-based games on Linux. Why would people expect Stadia, which also runs in a web browser, to be treated differently?Quoting: t3gI don’t understand the reasoning to talk about Stadia on this site. Yes, I know that it’s running on a version of Linux, but those enhancements aren’t going upstream and it won’t encourage game developers to use the Stadia code in porting to Linux.Honestly getting sick of replying to this. We will write about anything, on Linux as long as it relates to gaming on this platform. Does Stadia work on Linux and is it a supported service? Yes. So we cover it. Same reason we cover Wine, Proton, Emulators, Game Engines and everything else.
Don't like it? Block the Stadia tag in your profile settings here or stop reading them.
Quoting: MohandevirI suppose. On the other hand, where I live bandwidth keeps getting more expensive. I could spend a bunch of $/month just playing the damn games, which would add up to the price of a better computer surprisingly quickly.Quoting: Kimyrielle.. Otherwise there is like -zero- point in cloud gaming...
Have you tried buying PC hardware lately? PS5? Xbox Series? Prices have skyrocketed if available at all... These "PC component crisis" are becoming quite common stuff. That's an area where cloud gaming might become attractive.
Quoting: RandomizedKirbyTree47I could have sworn that all the games I play on Steam have been downloaded to my computer, backed up to an external hard drive, and are willing to play when I'm offline, albeit after a brief gripe. Hence I would still have them if Valve somehow imploded and for all practical purposes I own them. How exactly is this "renting games for a one time fee"?Quoting: TheRiddickIt's the whole business model that is the problem. They are offering people a opportunity to RENT games at retail prices, plus a monthly subscription on top..
No, they aren't. They're giving you the choice between "renting" games for a one time fee (the same way Steam and any other DRM store does)
Quoting: vipor29Stadia never helped linux . Could never understand the hype.There are several things about Stadia that are potentially good for Linux.
First, Stadia doesn't care what OS you use--Linux is exactly equal to all other platforms when it comes to playing Stadia games. If Stadia were the only gaming platform, Linux would have exactly zero barrier to entry on the gaming front. To be clear, I still really don't want that to happen, as I am deeply suspicious of the streaming model for games and don't want it to take over.
Second, Stadia itself, at the server level, is Linux. That means:
2a) For a game to be on Stadia, developers had to develop it on Linux and
2b) The game has to be, somewhere out there, running on Linux.
This means developers are learning to develop on Linux and Google has a motivation for Linux to be a good development platform and for games to run well on Linux--for drivers to be fast and smooth, technology to be solid, developer tools to be first rate etc. All these things have implications for game development on Linux in general and for consumers using Linux to run games.
So my opinion about Stadia has stayed pretty much the same through its existence to date: I think it would be good for Linux if Stadia was successful enough to create a substantial Linux game developer base and contribute to boosting Linux developer technologies, drivers and so forth, but bad if Stadia was so successful it ate the world.
Quoting: GuestThat is the point people keep missing, because they just have to get their bit in on Google. Creating and maintaining a game studio, one big enough to do costly AAA titles is a huge and extremely messy thing that just isn't Google. Clearly so. Yes others can do it, because they have a long history and started off making smaller games and scaling up.Quoting: KimyrielleQuoting: GuestActually, "Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially."
Translation: Making AAA games costs money.
Google must have been really shocked to find out. It was such a well-kept secret that making AAA games costs money!
And...I dunno. EA and Ubisoft seem to be quite successful making AAA games and Google is 100 times (or 1000?) richer than these two companies combined. *shrug*
They have established studios.....
I'm no huge fan of Google overall (I'm even moving away from gmail after being with it since the start!), despite liking Stadia, but the overwhelming urge people seem to have to just not think things through about commenting on it is either ignorance or just plain stupidity to make a dig at GOog.
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