In a report from Kotaku today, Google Stadia has closed both its Montreal and Los Angeles internal studios. Any games that were on the horizon seem to be canceled unless they were “close to being finished.”
Google Stadia Closing Internal Game Studios
The service, however, is not going anywhere (for now). Google Stadia will continue to offer its monthly fee and allow players to play a handful of different titles it has been curating for the past couple of years.
The focus now is on bringing in third-party developers to put their games on the platform. Google will continue to pursue games for Stadia but will no longer focus on making games directly for the platform.
Jade Raymond, who was brought on to help oversee these studios is reportedly leaving the company alongside this announcement.
While this isn’t entirely surprising, especially considering the barebones offering of Stadia for the better part of a year, it’s still shocking to see such a quick and hard pivot.
One of Google Stadia’s biggest flaws is its pricing structure. Having to purchase games piecemeal instead of an Xbox Game Pass or Netflix model certainly hurt its appeal.
While the future of Google Stadia seems quite uncertain, for the time being, it looks like Google hasn’t fully abandoned it, maybe just purchase your next Stadia game with caution, because no one is certain what happens to your ability to play it if Google decides to ax Stadia entirely.
Related: Stadia Backlash Addressed by Google
- Google Stadia Adds Elder Scrolls Online, Borderlands 3, Cyberpunk and More To Its Growing Library
- Here’s Which Mobile Devices Work With Google Stadia At Launch
- Google Stadia Is Impressive, But Definitely Not Recommended If You’ve Got a Data Cap
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