Google Stadia is shutting down first-party games division
With many direct competitors in the market and the high price of game development, Google had to seek a new solution for its game streaming service and create a more sustainable long-term plan that will allow it to focus on the future while still providing the best cloud gaming experience. Because of this Google has officially announced that Google Stadia will be shutting down the development of first-party games. Here is what this means for the platform itself, but also its users.
Google’s VP Phil Harrison has announced that the Stadia Games and Entertainment division of Google has come to an end. During its existence, this specific division was leading the development of first-party games for Stadia itself but has also published games by other developers on the platform. However, despite this closure, Google Stadia is not being completely canceled but is rather shifting the focus from creating games to assisting other developers to bring their games to the platform. As Harrison explained, this is not the end for the platform, but rather a step in a new direction with a focus on third-party rather than first-party games.
Practically, for users, this shift will not be a significant one as all games that are currently available will stay available even if they are first-party games. Even though some planned first-party games that were expected later this year will unfortunately not be released, Google Stadia will continue to grow its game collection by adding even more third-party games to the platform every month.
