In recent years, cloud gaming has become an increasingly popular concept. On paper, cloud gaming essentially means gamers with a strong enough internet connection can stream games directly to their phone, tablet or Smart TV, eliminating the need for an expensive console or PC. But cloud gaming isn’t that simple, and even the service’s biggest advocate, Google Stadiahad to learn that the hard way.
Launched in 2019 after years of leaks and rumours, Google Stadia sought to bring the 4K, 60fps gaming experience to those without consoles by providing the world’s most complete and stable cloud gaming service. And while this turned out to be a huge success for some, for others the experience just didn’t live up to its potential. Just a few days ago, Google announced that Stadia would close in January 2023, with players losing access to games purchased through the service. While the gaming community is currently focused on the prevailing discussions about digital game ownership, or lack thereof, it’s also important to think about where cloud gaming is headed.
What the closure of Stadia could mean for the future of Cloud Gaming
Cloud gaming has a surprisingly long history in the video game landscape, with its first use dating back to 2003 and the G-Cluster, an extremely primitive attempt to offer streaming-based games and video-on-demand. In the decade that followed, cloud gaming fell dormant and didn’t resurface until 2010 with OnLive, a fairly competent game streaming service that never made a profit, then was shut down in 2012 — but not before part of its tech rights to PlayStation for its own. PS Now service.
Since then, Nvidia has been the biggest voice in the cloud gaming landscape, with its Nvidia GeForce Now subscription service starting in 2013 as Nvidia Grid. While Nvidia’s foray into cloud gaming was fairly successful, it lacked the funding to truly elevate the medium to the mainstream, something Google was trying to do. Google Stadia launched in 2019, and of all cloud gaming attempts to date, Stadia has held the most promise. With enough money for some substantial servers, the cloud gaming dream finally seemed to be coming true, and for some early adopters it was. Although the library was scarce when it came out, Stadia’s performance was surprisingly good according to early critics, but that quickly changed when the general public got their hands on it.
Cloud gaming is quite a niche product, which is ironic given that the goal of a gaming streaming service is to get games into the hands of a casual audience who don’t want to spend a lot of money on a single console. So Google struggled to convince the gaming audience that Stadia was a worthwhile investment. Marketing Stadia to hardcore gamers made no sense as they already own a PC or console, and marketing to casual gamers didn’t get Stadia very far as cloud gaming is still a bit of a confusing concept for the mass market. Google Stadia has stagnated for the past year. Without new players there is no continuous stream of income and without money there is no reason to host expensive servers.
The fact that Google Stadia is being discontinued just three years after launch isn’t a good sign for the future of cloud gaming. This announcement is essentially telling the gaming industry that even a juggernaut company like Google can’t make cloud gaming a financially viable product, or at least not yet. In recent years, however, Xbox has put a lot of time, effort and money into creating and marketing its own Xbox cloud gaming service, and it’s not like Xbox is giving up on its projects anytime soon.
So even despite Stadia shutting down, it seems likely Xbox will still try to push its own cloud gaming service. Perhaps this time, more emphasis will be placed on marketing to a specific audience, whether that’s hardcore gamers who want their AAA gaming experience on the go or the casual market looking for a dirt-cheap gaming experience.
0 Comments