Now I don't mean to toot my own Nostradamus horn, but wasn't I one of the folk who said Stadia wouldn't live to see it's first birthday unless the team got their act together and started actively supporting it like they are supposed too? Well I suppose if you're being very technical about things, or simply are an active member of the hilariously blasé Stadia Reddit, you'll be able to see that I was wrong about that particular prediction; but if you're more a person who can see the clear and obvious signs presented before them, then you're likely noticing the same things that I have of late. Although all those little infractions are beneath me right now, I don't care about the flagship functionality which didn't manage to ship with the box and still hasn't been added in, I've hardly even thought about the hundred games that were promised by the end of the year only for them to currently only have 81. (Including the 20 or so that they already had at the beginning of the year) No, because I'm more occupied and interested in the impending functionality, or lack thereof, in Google's ever-expanding library of products.
For those who don't know, the much advertised 'invisible console' which touted the ability to play without ever cluttering up your living space with 'clunky' devices and working parts, needed a Chromecast Ultra in order to play on the TV. I forget exactly how much the Chromecast was needed for Stadia, but as I recall at the beginning of it's lifespan there was essentially no way to use Stadia without one and even now I think it's still needed for the activation process, so it's safe to say that Chromecast Ultra is the easiest and most accessible way to play Stadia and essentially acts as it's 'console' to the average consumer. Which must mean good news for Stadia, as incoming rapidly is a brand new Chromecast which is a heck of a lot smaller than the last one and has 'New' in front of it, which automatically gives it value in the eyes of the consumer. This would be such a great opportunity for Stadia to star as a launch feature for the Chromecast and really get into the homes of all those consummate tech junkies out there!
Except I wouldn't be writing this blog is that was how everything turned out. (What can I say, Stadia's only ever really interesting when it fumbles, call it a quirk of PR) Because, you see, due to a headscratching situation in which one of these new Chromecasts where being sold 2 days before it's announcement (How did that happen?) a few tech journalists manage to get their hands on it early to test it out. One such fellow must have been a particularly nostalgic and whimsical one, for they then took the effort of logging into their Stadia to see how it run with the new device. Only, Stadia wasn't there in the list of apps. In fact, it couldn't even be downloaded from their official store. Taking this to be a mere temporary omission, this reporter than sideloaded Stadia onto that device (a rather straightforward task though still one that's too much hassle for the average consumer) to find they could access everything fairly well, some compatibility issues were present but games could be played. Thus the official announcement would probably clear things up. Spoilers: nope.
Seems early assumptions were correct, this was a temporary omission to the Chromecast app store, only not be a few days but by at least a few months into the first half of 2021. That's right, the all new Chromecast will be launching completely without any Stadia functionality for the first few months of it's life going right through Christmas, thus robbing Stadia of the spotlight exactly one month before it's birthday. This comes alongside the news that the Chromecast Ultra will have it's support stopped shortly, thus encouraging people to leave it behind, and that the new Chromecast will have GeForce Now; a direct competitor to Stadia! I can't even fathom the shear comedy of errors which led to this mess of a predicament for the Stadia team but one thing is for certain; I do not envy them right now. If anyone with a memory for Google's other failed services is to consider this move, it's pretty much clear that this is a death sentence from the higher ups. The service is no longer useful so they won't even bring it to their newest toys right away, it's only a matter of time before Stadia is quietly discontinued and never spoken about again.
Christmas holiday will come and go this 2020 with absolutely no presence from Stadia. In a year where the new generations of consoles are coming to push gaming forward, (with 4k 60fps in the equation) Stadia won't be there. I can't think of a better summation of the Two and a Half Men meme. (if you forgot about it, it couldn't have been important.) I'm not saying that having Stadia on the new Chromecast would have saved the flagging service or redeemed it in the eyes of gamers, but it would have at least represented Google's willingness not to give up on this service, like they promised they wouldn't. But it seems that one of the biggest tech giants in the world can't be bothered to work with something that's not an instant success, and so the fat must be cut. The weak must be culled.
Perhaps if this service were a little better conceived I'd state that news with a little more sadness, but I think it's hardly a surprise for anyone to read that I took an immediate disliking to Stadia. Right away when they slapped down their intentions to entirely disrupt the gaming market I scratched my head wondering about all the aspects they hadn't though about, such as personal file management and modding, only to then look at their pricing structure and get turned off entirely. In the time since then so many other, better, alternatives have stepped around the huge minefield of craters that Google trailed through in order to offer some actually viable game streaming options. Amazon's Luna seems decent in conception at least, GeForce Now has had a few teething troubles but is hitting it's stride, and Microsoft's xCloud is just simply too good of a proposition to ignore with the way it's married to Game Pass. (The cost-value proposition is insane)
Some may call Google brave for pushing forward tech. Pioneers who guided the way through the unknown only to ultimately fall upon their own sword, sacrificing their lifeblood so that others could live, but the truth is that that all of these services (minus, possibly, Luna) were in development long before Stadia rolled around. All Google did was rush to be first before they were ready and before they had a competitive service, praying that name recognition and grandfathering themselves into the public zeitgeist would make up for the shortcomings. Well guess what, Google, it's been a year and your service is still a joke in the industry. Your failure in concept, execution, pricing and marketing (oh god, the marketing missed the mark so hard) resulted in a short stint of mild popularity that quickly drained and couldn't even be saved by a global pandemic that forced people to stay indoors. Does this make Stadia's failure as bad as Quibi? No, because at least it's not called Quibi. (Seriously, I'd be embarrassed to tell anyone I had that on that resume)
If there's anyone out there with a Stadia who's not buried their head in the sand like everyone on the Stadia Reddit, I really hope they get it together to cut their losses now, things will only get worse from here. If there's one party I feel really sorry for in all this it's the games that sought out exclusivity on this platform, thinking it would be the next big thing. Although, I suppose that only would grant them the notoriety to be noticed in the future, I mean would I have even heard of Gylt if not for Stadia exclusivity? Probably not. Maybe, then, the true victims in all this are the employees who thought they were part of something gamechanging, only to be mocked, ridiculed and eventually discontinued. Here's hoping they, at least, land on their feet. As for the idiots who came up with this horrible model in the first place; maybe do some basic research into the next industry you want to break into, it might help a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment