Trying Stadia Wins People Over, Says Google CEO

Ever since Google unveiled their games streaming service, Stadia, there’s been a lot of questions about its viability as a platform. Due to limited demoing so far, many wonder about potential issues Google will face, such as their ability to produce content (as Microsoft has vocalized recently), but more so, the biggest worry is how the streaming service will be able to function with the current infrastructure of the internet. Past comments from Google VP Phil Harrison have tried to reassure people that basic broadband will be enough. Now, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is trying to calm those fears, and says that trying the service makes all the difference to skeptics.

During the post-Q1 2019 earnings call, Pichai said that he understood people’s worries, but that publishers are engaged heavily as the service continues development. He also says that once people get their hands on Stadia, the doubt tends to melt away.

“I think we see genuine excitement because, I think, they see the opportunity for a shift, a point of inflection, but they realized the technical challenge of pulling something like this off,” he said. “And so, but once they get their hands on with the technology and then they see the experience, I think, completely wins people over.

“And so we are having conversations across the Board and I think people are definitely engaging in a very committed way and they are investing in it and so it’s up to us to bring it all together and have a compelling service later this year and that’s what the team has had done working on.

“But I think they want to see our commitment, which is what we demonstrate and they are working hard to make the investments on their side. And so it’s a big joint effort and it’s working well.”

It remains to be seen if all that will ring true, and there’s still a lot of issues that haven’t been addressed. Largely, and most notably, internet data caps that are still in place in large parts of the world. We’ll just have to see how things shape out.