Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will no longer develop video games internally. Instead, the tech giant is refocusing its internal Stadia game development division to stream games from existing developers. A blog post shared by vice president and general manager Phil Harrison for Stadia affirmed the anguish of developing best in class games from the ground.
Stadia Restructuring
According to Harrison, the cost of developing games internally has gone up internally and no longer makes economic sense. Likewise, the focus going forward shifts to building proven technologies of stadia as well as deepening business partnerships.
Similarly, Google will no longer invest in bringing exclusive content to the Stadia platform from the internal development team. As part of the new plan, the company is shutting down its game studios in Los Angeles and Montreal, both of which operated under the Stadia unit. A good number of the Stadia unit personnel will move to new roles as part of the ongoing restructuring.
However, Stadia and subscription service Stadia Pro, which goes for $9.999, will continue to exist. Google is expected to secure exclusive third party titles for the platform through its subscription. Either way, the restructuring shutters Google’s gaming ambitions.
Google’s Gaming Ambitions
Initially, Google was willing to invest in multiple first-party studios as it sought to strengthen its ambitions on gaming. Creating games that would take advantage of the unique cloud technology affirmed how serious the company was about gaming ambitions.
The move underscored how focused the company was at one-day introducing exclusives that would take on the likes of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, all of which develop games internally. The ambitions have since been dashed as the company shifts its attention to third party games.
Stadia no longer making games makes lots of sense given the expensive endeavor of coming up with AAA-titles. However, the same means the Google’s unit future will be relegated to just another option for playing games in an industry where people are always spoilt of choice.
