https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/16/22286252/google-stadia-studios-shut-down-timing-good-progress-report

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Filed under:

  * Google
  * Gaming
  * Entertainment

Google reportedly shut down its Stadia studios a week after praising
them

New, 91 comments

A new report sheds light on the final days of Stadia's game arm

By Chaim Gartenberg@cgartenberg Feb 16, 2021, 5:49pm EST

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[akrales_19] Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google made the surprise announcement on February 1st that it would
be shuttering its in-house Stadia game development studios. But the
news wasn't just a surprise to Stadia customers; it was a bolt from
the blue for the Stadia development team, which, just a week prior,
had been told that the studios were making "great progress,"
according to a report from Kotaku.

"[Stadia Games and Entertainment] has made great progress building a
diverse and talented team and establishing a strong lineup of Stadia
exclusive games," said Phil Harrison, a vice president at Google and
general manager for Stadia, on January 27th in an email to staff
obtained by Kotaku. The email promised more news on the Stadia
studios' strategy and goals for 2021. But instead of new development
objectives, Harrison announced just days later on February 1st that
the studios would be shutting down entirely.

Related

Google is shutting down its in-house Stadia game development studios

The biggest question -- both from outside observers and Stadia team
members alike -- is what changed. Harrison's blog post announcing the
shutdowns cites "exponentially" rising costs of "creating
best-in-class games" as a factor, for example. But given Google's
$1.4 trillion market cap, it's hard to imagine that as the sole
reason for shutting down the company's game development studios
entirely, especially when they were given so little time to prove
themselves.

In a Q&A with staff on February 4th, Harrison reportedly admitted
that Google's execs already knew the shutdown was coming when he sent
the email praising the team's progress. Kotaku also reports that
Harrison variously cited Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda and the
ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic as factors in the
shutdown.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is clear: by shutting down its
studios before they even managed to ship any major first-party
exclusives for Stadia, Google has shown not only its staff but also
the world that it isn't as serious about its gaming initiatives as it
once appeared. And ultimately, that's a disappointing thing to see,
both for Stadia's future and for the industry at large.

Related

The writing's on the wall for Google Stadia

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