Stadia

Planted 02022-09-30

Sep 29, 2022: A message about Stadia and our long term streaming strategy

A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. And while Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.

I am sad. I was a paid member from the start. However, I hardly used it. I hardly game.

The good

• Waiting for disks? What are disks? (Most consoles have been here for years)
• Waiting for new hardware? What’s hardware?
• Waiting for installation? Whats installation?
• Waiting for updates?

The bad

Any game you had previously bought did not transfer to Stadia.

Nvidia GeForce Now played the backward compatibility game by allowing you to link your Steam game library and start playing.

I’m reminded of How Microsoft Lost the API War – Joel on Software.

Bad/spotty wifi made Stadia… unplayable.

Wifi where you couldn’t connect to other devices, as found in many dorms or townhomes, made it impossible to connect to the Chromecast.

You’re never going to get “console quality”. Maybe it’s possible with better internet, but…

There was no game showcase game.

I imagine Stadia could have done some Peter Thiel level game development—give $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom.

The ugly

Broken promises from day one. There was a lot of hype about YouTube integrations and other things that just… never came to be.

Imagine watching a video of a game on YouTube, and with the click of a button you can play the game. Not only that, if you were watching someone streaming a game, you could join their game.

Imagine being able to save and share playable scenarios!