In a strange turn of events, Google went from praising its Stadia studios to announcing it would be closing them in just a week’s time.
Stadia is of course Google’s in-house development arm for games. The announcement came as a surprise given that the company had said the studios had been making “great progress” just a week before the shuttering.
Sources obtained an email that mentioned Stadia in a positive light and also promised further news about goals and projects for the coming year.
However, the General Manager for Stadia Phil Harrison declared on February 1st this was not to be with the studios closing completely.
As is the case with any momentous change of policy so quickly, many have inquired what the reason is for the sudden departure.
Harrison maintained that one of the factors in the decision was due to “exponentially” rising costs in making games for the platform.
But many see that explanation as only part of the full story. After all, Google is a behemoth in general and for any company to simply blame money for abruptly ending a project that had supposedly had so much promise seems rather fishy.
Harrison also went on to say in a Q&A with staff that the end of Stadia was already set in stone when the optimistic email about its future was sent.
Finally, when pressed Harrison also asserted that COVID-19 and the Bethesda- Microsoft deal played an impact on the decision.
The move has left many disappointed at Google’s lack of commitment to such a key part of its gaming initiatives.
The company has yet to produce any exclusives for Stadia and it could be a foreshadowing of how it handles gaming in the near future.
