When Google first unveiled their Stadia project, it was an interesting idea. Since the official launch, however, it doesn’t seem as if the hype behind the service has materialized. While Google has not released any official numbers, player counts in multiplayer titles have remained very low and only a handful of the major publishers such as Ubisoft and 2K Games seem to be supporting the service with any major support. It’s made many wonder if Stadia was meant for the very populated Google Graveyard that hosts many services the company has launched and killed off within a few years. Well, the Director of the service says they are still dedicated with big promises.
In an interview with MobileSyrup Jack Buser, Stadia’s Director of Games, said that they were in this for the long haul. He acknowledged that as a newcomer to the industry, there will be growing pains, but claims Google is still behind the gaming initiative. Buser said that there’s a lot of games in development as proof of this dedication.
“And even though a year feels like a long time, we’re just getting started. We’re in this for the long haul. Part of being in business development is that games take a long time to build, so I get to know what’s going to happen with Stadia three years from now, four years now. And to think about that long-term vision and how exciting that is — this is going to be the adventure of a lifetime.
“What I can tell you is that we’ve built a roadmap of about 400 games in development right now from 200 developers. So when those games land, whether it’s in the calendar year of 2021 or beyond, is something that you’ll hear more from us in the future. Will there be more developers and more games on the platform? Absolutely.”
On one level, it’s reassuring, but on another level, it’s always hard to tell. With other more established companies getting hard in cloud gaming now, specifically Microsoft with their Xbox Cloud Gaming they plan to expand, it may be even harder for Google to get the foothold they need. Only time will, of course, but Google certainly doesn’t lack the resources to do it, that much is for sure.
