What Went Wrong With Google Stadia?

It was touched on in the video but it really needs to be emphasized how well Google handled the ending of Stadia. All my money was refunded, clear instructions on how to transfer games and saves was given, and no delays or intentionally obtuse paperwork was part of it. That being said - these sorts of things should be considered the bare minimum for any failed company, but so far exactly one company in my four decades of gaming has pulled this off. Google done fucked up, no doubt, but they stuck the dead body bounce.

As someone who bought the Premium edition bundle which included the Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra for $22 during their firesale, it was great! I didn't use the service but bought it just for the Chromecast itself so I basically got a controller for free. Sure the controller only worked only for Stadia unless you connected it directly to your PC by USB but I didn't mind. Once they released the update to the controller to work as a generic Bluetooth controller then it got even better since they had already refunded my money for the original purchase for the premium edition so I basically got everything for free. So yeah, Stadia was a complete success for me at least. Not so much for Google I guess.

I think it's easier to list the things that DID go right with Stadia. But it would be a very short list and the length of this video would be only 2 minutes.

I've never used it but that was the thing that shocked me the most - Google thinking lets not bother introducing a search bar for the entire first year? I mean, Isn't that the first thing you'd thinnk of from Google?

I was a day-one adopter of Stadia, and I never used it beyond the first day. For me, the service was technically solid, and would have proven useful. The issue for me was instead how the game library was handled. For a monthly fee, I expected something closer to Game Pass rather than paying for access to a platform-specific marketplace, where games I played 3 years ago were going for full price. Had this been a subscription model like Game Pass, where the games were included, I think Stadia's fate would have been much different.

If you want anything in your company to be destroyed, Phil Harrison is your guy!

I can see the pitch now - 'You know how consoles can fail because of being expensive or a lack of games? Let's have both of those, plus technology that even one of the biggest technology companies can't get to work properly. Just to make sure'😆

My issue with streaming, apart from the obvious, is that Digital Games never really feel like mine. Streaming games feel so even less. Which also applies to Gamepass for me.

it’s like google thought Stadia was like Gmail…they didn’t realise they also had to write the emails

The thing that hurt Stadia the most was Google's reputation. If they had gone through a cycle and begin upgrading their server hardware, then I'd be less worried about having the whole thing plug pulled. What was nice of Google was how they handled refunds and such, but I wasn't gonna buy into a Google product I didn't know if it was gonna survive...

For me the issue with streaming is far less about being resistance to change, and far more about wanting at least some semblance of ownership. At least with my Steam account, I can access my games without needing to pay for a subscription on top of it, and also, I don't sense its impending closure anytime soon. Stadia was a hard-sell for me even without it missing most other notes on top of its streaming-only ecosystem.

It's a combination of: -the concept itself doesn't work except in perfect conditions -games don't want to give up physical storage/hardware -we knew Google would shut it down eventually

It's crazy how Phil Harrison jumps from company to company, working on their biggest failures, just to jump to another company

I remember using Stadia for games my old PC couldn't handle. Something that always bothered me was an error popup about my internet connection being weak. It was really annoying because at the time: 1. I had ethernet with Google Fiber, my internet connection was fantastic with everything outside of Stadia. 2. The popup would stay, there was no way to ignore it or hide it. My other major gripe with Stadia was that there were a lot of games I wanted to play, but weren't available on Stadia. You were really limited to what they had to offer, and sports games made an unfortunate amount of that catalogue. Stadia wasn't all terrible, and I really did appreciate being refunded on all the games/DLCs I purchased through it. I wish Game publishers would learn from that, especially when deciding to cut support to old games. The bare minimum of decency goes a long way.

I feel like what's often overlooked is that Gamestop, Walmart, Best Buy, etc. don't have an aisle of Stadia games to browse while people are shopping. That kind of thing keeps the console's on people's minds, but I don't think most people even knew the Stadia existed. Then maybe a great ad campaign could help, but I only remember a couple ads when it launched. Or if they would have had some really great new exclusives every couple months that could have got the game sites giving them free publicity. Google already has an app store with 490,000 games, gamers were starved for content, this should have been an easy way to pad out the release schedule. The whole thing just seems really ill conceived with no follow through. Like the goal was to get the system out, and then they just gave up as soon as it launched.

My favorite Stadia Moment was when the lead manager in charge of the entire project suggested on Twitter that YouTubers and Twitch streamers should pay a licensing fee to play other peoples games on camera.

They only release bluetooth support for their controller after they shut down…… it was insane they had that ability all along and didnt use it

I took part in the OnLive trial for a week, attempting to play Batman: Arkham City, and it permanently put me off any streaming or on-demand service. 😛 Having a physical machine with the game running on it is always going to be the best option.

Everything.

I like that Stadia tried something different. And I think the tech they created for it could be great. It's just that at the end of the day, cloud gaming can never really work. There's always gonna be things like input lag, connection issues, etc. It's just not feasible unless there is some massive revolution in network connection tech.