It seems that there are two things inevitable in the universe, Thanos and the fate of Google Stadia. Business Insider is reporting that the cloud-based gaming service Google Stadia has been “demoted” within the company.
The report also states that Phil Harrison the head of Google Stadia will now be reporting to Jason Rosenthal, Google’s vice president of subscription services.
Google Stadia will be rebranded as Goggle Stream and its technology will be repurposed. Google will be selling the service to third-party companies in and outside of gaming.
Peloton, Bungie, and Capcom were a few companies named within the report. Peloton bike owners may have already enjoyed the power of Google Stadia. Lanebreak, the company’s first video game was powered by the service.
Stadia’s Future
Google Stadia launched in 2019 however 14 months after its launch Google announced that it would be closing all of its first-party game studios. Google says it is “still focused on bringing great games to Stadia in 2022.” Stadia has more than 200 games in its library with 100 more planned to release this year.
One source told Business Insider that “There are plenty of people internally who would love to keep it going, so they are working really hard to make sure it doesn’t die.” The source added, “But they’re not the ones writing the checks.”
Google Stadia has responded to the report through a Twitter thread:
If you hear one thing, hear this: The Stadia team is working really hard on a great future for Stadia and cloud gaming.
We hope you agree, and we know the proof is in the playing.