Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Google Shutting Down Stadia Cloud Gaming Platform

LOL what? Typical Google, I guess.
Google, you cannot have a successful online platform if you restrict it to only few markets. I was interested in trying Stadia since I am not interested in purchasing a gaming PC, but the service is not available in my country, even though Google has a data center here.
 
This news just in! Google decides to kill off…Google search!

Google/alphabet is ridiculous and a laughingstock. Don’t invest yourself too heavily into Google services because they will kill off any initiative within 2 to 5 years. Visit “killedbygoogle.com“.
 
Why would people expect anything Google does to last, besides spying on us and selling our data to the highest bidders.

That and accusing us of having something to hide if we want to protect our privacy.

And treating their employees bad.

And ignoring HR issues related to harassment.

And...
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: pbdnr and turbineseaplane
mnsportsgeek said:
We have different definitions of huge. So does Google. You’ll find out in a couple years.
Click to expand...

No. We don’t. One of us understands what the definition means. You’ll find out when you can do math. If Directv added 5 million subs, they’d have a 33% subscriber increase and their stocks would double overnight. But you don’t understand numbers nor economics. It’s a massive number.
 
leicaman said:
Why would people expect anything Google does to last, besides spying on us and selling our data to the highest bidders.

That and accusing us of having something to hide if we want to protect our privacy.

And treating their employees bad.

And ignoring HR issues related to harassment.

And...
Click to expand...
Spying on us and selling our data to the highest bidders so we can use long living services such as Gmail, Google Search, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Translate, Google Drive, Google Chrome and Youtube without costing us out of pocket.

Then treating their employees terribly bad with high wages, gourmet lunches and ignoring as much harassment as any other large company probably. No wonder NO ONE wants to work for Google!
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
Reactions: ackmondual and turbineseaplane
d686546s said:
It's quite easy and tempting to mock Google at this point for this, but kudos where kudos is due. They tried it, it failed, but no user is worse off for it. Refunding everything is not something I would expect others to have done.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Incredibly customer friendly on this one. Even with Stadia not selling well, that's a lot of money to refund.
 
svish said:
Atleast they are giving refund. Seems like only Microsoft/ Xbox is successful in this space.
Click to expand...
Yeah game streaming and subscriptions (even all of gaming eventually) are purely for Microsoft as they own Windows, Azure and Xbox simultaneously. No point in the others even trying really. Its just a waste of time and money.

Situation will be much worse after Blizzard/Activision purchase gets confirmed, as they will own the biggest chunk of pure game sales and playtime. In entertainment industries that is an insurmountable weapon.

I expect zero support for Apple Silicon going forward.
 
I got a stadia controller free. I had to sign up fir it for a month which was free and they’d automatically start billing after that, but I tried it, barely used it so cancelled it. The controller can be used as a normal Windows controller when plugged into a PC. Google need to open it up for people to be able to make it work as a wireless controller, I presume it has Bluetooth.
 
One thing I learned quickly working in the tech biz: people think Google is an amazing “innovator” but in reality they’re amazing at throwing half-arsed “projects” at a wall, getting tons of press for it, then quietly killing it later.

Nothing new to see here.
 
d686546s said:
It's quite easy and tempting to mock Google at this point for this, but kudos where kudos is due. They tried it, it failed, but no user is worse off for it. Refunding everything is not something I would expect others to have done.
Click to expand...

They released a game streaming service during the pandemic when people were stuck at home with too much time on their hands, and when game consoles and graphic cards were at an all time low. And still it failed to get traction.

This isn’t about trying and failing. Google’s corporate culture is dysfunctional and broken and they absolutely deserved to be raked over the coals for it. We can crack jokes about how there’s an entire graveyard devoted to abandoned google projects, but it becomes a vicious cycle where people are hesitant to get invested in your products because they aren’t sure how long it will be supported down the road.

Something is fundamentally very wrong with the way google is being run. Sunsetting products so often isn’t something that ought to be celebrated, IMO.
 
Since Apple Arcade was launched they monopolised iOS gaming from the App Store.

Todays App Store lacks the vibe and many of the games available are full of in app purchases.

Apple listen to google and get rid of it.
 
Marty80 said:
Since Apple Arcade was launched they monopolised iOS gaming from the App Store.

Todays App Store lacks the vibe and many of the games available are full of in app purchases.

Apple listen to google and get rid of it.
Click to expand...
From this, it sounds like Apple Arcade is a success to me. I see no reason to get rid of it.
 
Stadia wasn't a bad idea in principal or practice if it had been just a subscription service, however it was the fact you still had to purchase games at often more than the physical retail price on the stadia platform that were not part of your monthly sub games - where it really failed to gain consumer traction.

From just a service and hardware perspective from someone who has actually been using it for the last 18 months, It has been running great on my devices - chromecast ultra, google TV dongles, iPad and Macs - and the quality was often much better than the Geforce Now founders level streaming service. (I have gigabit fibre). It potentially offered higher streaming quality that xbox cloud / game pass where stadia can stream at up-to 4k 60hz compared to a max of 1080p 60 on xbox game pass.

The fact Google are refunding hardware and software purchases is pretty decent and something many other companies would not do. I do not understand those who gleefully and bitterly rubbing their hands in joy at the news of stadia's closure - just out of some twisted brand (or anti brand) loyalty they have going on. Less competition and the less choice consumers have/has never results in 'better' service or products for those consumers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ackmondual and d686546s
ProfessionalFan said:
This is one of the reasons I never really got started with it, I figured they'd fold it unless it took off fast and the idea for it seemed flawed from the start
Click to expand...

The technology (and idea) behind Stadia was pretty cool. I was a Stadia Pro subscriber for a while. It was great being able to play games that normally aren't available on Mac at 4K, high detail, high frame rates, etc. Even on a laptop. Unlike on other game streaming services, games started quickly and it didn't feel like you were just using some Windows box remotely.

So, great technology. But (mostly) crappy games. The store was also pretty lame with just a huge list of (mainly B-list) titles, and no indication of whether something was good or not.

With a better game library and a better store, Stadia could have be a winner. Shame they didn’t just partner with Steam!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ackmondual
Derekuda said:
As a casual stadia player, I must admit, out of all the cloud services I have tried (Onlive, PS Now, Xbox Cloud, GFN, and Stadia), Stadia had the lowest latency, best feel to it.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. They really nailed it on the tech side. Just totally screwed up on the business/store side.

I hope the tech goes towards a competitor.
Click to expand...

Knowing Google, there's almost zero chance of that. They'll just let it rot. Best case is that a competitor hires some of the guys from the Stadia tech team and builds a new one from scratch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ackmondual
reguar11 said:
I don't have Stadia but I'm not happy about this. Google sucks. They are soon going to be famous for being quitters. Like for real just stick to something.
Click to expand...
They are, it's just that the business plan has changed. All companies axe products or pivot strategy. Apple has a solid history of killing off things as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ackmondual
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back