Google Stadia is dead and it’s a sad day for gaming

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The Google Stadia controller will still be usable now that the cloud gaming service is dead.

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Google screwed up.

He made so many mistakes with Stadia that they prevented the platform from reaching its full potential. Now, like so many other Google projects, Stadia is dead. That’s a real shame, because it was a great cloud gaming service ahead of its time.

I say this in the most literal way, because Google launched Stadia on the market before it was really ready for mass consumption. The service lacked some promised features at launch, including the novel State Share (which allows players to share a save state with friends by sending a link), integrated splitscreen views of your squads’ gameplay, and a way for YouTube viewers to join the action.

It even took Google about 18 months after launch to add a search feature for the store. Stadia definitely needed more time in the oven, but Google has decided to launch it early and improve the platform over time. That was the wrong move if the company was to win over the skeptics.

Perhaps most importantly in the eyes of many gamers is that Stadia didn’t have a compelling enough game library at launch, if at all. Exclusives were few and far between, not helped by Google’s decision to shut down its in-house game studios in early 2021. The company has also lost some high-profile third-party games for various reasons. For too long, Google hasn’t even made it easy for developers to port games to the platform.

MORE FROM FORBESGoogle is making it easier for developers to bring games to StadiaBy Kris Holt

And then there’s the business model. Many people chafed at the idea of ​​paying full price for streaming-only games. I’ve enjoyed many of the titles I’ve played through Stadia Pro, such as Gylt (which I’m glad will live elsewhere). But the service needed a bigger Game Pass-style buffet and the games that went with it, to really sing.

All of these were avoidable mistakes. It’s a real shame because the main thing that Stadia was supposed to do, allow people to play games anywhere, has worked wonderfully.

The Stadia Controller will live on.

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I have rarely encountered any notable connection or latency issues with Stadia. Games generally ran smoothly as butter Stadia even handled the ending of Cyberpunk 2077 very well.

Having a way to play AAA games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Control, and Destiny 2 on low-end phones and tablets, where they could still look great and play great, was beyond rad. The YouTube integration, although I haven’t used it, has worked well with all accounts.

My favorite thing about Stadia, however, is the dedicated community that has formed around it. Every Stadia fan I’ve interacted with has been super nice and enthusiastic about the platform. I’m glad Google is doing right by them by refunding nearly every Stadia purchase they’ve made and unlocking the Bluetooth features on the controller. I would have been happier if the company hadn’t screwed up Stadia in the first place.

I’m a huge fan of cloud gaming for many reasons, including that it makes gaming more accessible to more people. There’s no need for sophisticated, dedicated hardware to control many titles, although the lack of robust Internet access in many areas remains a real, larger problem.

I’ve heard stories of people who have stopped gambling for various reasons. Did they have young children or busy careers or had to sell their gaming consoles or PCs years ago. But Stadia has brought back a few.

They could pick up and play an important game when their child was taking a nap or while they were traveling. They might finally check out Red Dead Redemption 2, Doom Eternal, Celeste, FIFA 23, or Assassins Creed Odyssey after hearing from friends raving about them for years. They could easily switch between laptops, phones, tablets, and TVs and continue playing where they left off.

Some of that is still possible elsewhere, of course, thanks to other cloud gaming services and even Steam Deck. But, despite all of Google’s missteps, there’s a lot that Stadia gets right.

The Stadia team has created something very cool and it’s sad that the platform they created no longer exists. Bad business decisions from the top doomed Stadia from the start. At least the excellent streaming technology that Stadia runs on (sorry, it worked) will survive thanks to efforts like the white-labeled version of the service, Immersive Stream for Games, and other Google products.

It’s a dark day for cloud gaming and gaming as a whole. Greetings to you, Stadia and the community you fostered.

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