Google Stadialaunched in November 2020, requiring a subscription to its Stadia Pro service. While it’s difficult to discern theStadiaservice’s popularity or success, it’s reasonable to state that it hasn’t been as explosively adopted as Google may have wanted. As excitement for the early months of Stadia winds down, some are seeing it as an opportunity for reflection and some criticism. Even Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick apparently has something to say about game streaming service.
During the recent Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, Zelnick spoke openly about his views of Stadia. After first acknowledging thatStadia’s launch"has been slow," he added his thoughts as to why. “I think there was some overpromising on what the technology could deliver,” says Zelnick, perhaps referring to Google’s early promises.
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Those early promises from Google included that all of its launch titles would run at 4K on hardware more powerful than thePS4 Pro and Xbox One X combined. Early reporting showed that this simply wasn’t true, with games includingDestiny 2andRed Dead Redemption 2instead rendering at 1080p and then upscaled. Analysis later showed Stadia unable to match even half of the rendering strength of the Xbox One X.
Zelnick characterizes the gap between what Google promised and what it delivered as creating, “some consumer disappointment as a result.” Nevertheless, Zelnick says thatTake-Twois supporting Stadia because of its confidence in the streaming market moving forward. He goes on to say that, “over time I believe streaming will work,” which isn’t exactly a complimentary description of Stadia. Rather, Zelnick seems more focused on an honest understanding of what Stadia offers.
“The belief that streaming was going to be transformative was based on a view that there were loads of people who really had an interest in interactive entertainment, really wanted to pay for it, but just didn’t want to have a console. I’m not sure that turned out to be the case,” is how Zelnick describes the current status ofgame streaming. Yet Zelnick still sees potential in streaming, saying, “Anytime you broaden distribution you potentially broaden your audience.”
Google Stadia’s launch may not have been up to Zelnick’s, or many gamers', full expectations. But it’s still just the start of what’s likely to be a shift in distribution. Many current gamers may not have been willing to simplyswitch to Stadia, but more in the future may opt for it instead of paying for a more immediately expensive console or PC. Time will tell just how popularGoogle Stadia, or its competitors, can grow.
