Google has been making some strong moves with Stadia recently, from two free months of Stadia Pro for everyone to timed exclusivity of Serious Sam 4. However despite the app breaking one million downloads, it hasn’t had quite the impact that Google envisioned. This has been noted by many including Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, who also feels that it “overpromised” on what its technology could deliver.
Speaking at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference (as per GameSpot), Zelnick said, “Streaming technology is upon us. The launch of Stadia has been slow. I think there was some overpromising on what the technology could deliver and some consumer disappointment as a result.”
Zelnick believes that streaming will work over time. “Anytime you broaden distribution you potentially broaden your audience, which is why we supported the release of Stadia with three titles initially and will continue to support high-quality streaming services as long as the business model makes sense. Over time I believe streaming will work…
“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.” Which further indicates the challenges of targeting such a niche audience that would rather stream than game on a console or PC.
This isn’t to say it’s lights out for Stadia just yet. Gears Tactics developer Splash Damage is working on an exclusive title for the platform. Electronic Arts is also bringing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order along with this year’s iterations of FIFA and Madden NFL. Whether the service can make a veritable impact, especially with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X coming up this holiday season, remains to be seen so stay tuned.
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