Los Angeles, USA, February 2, 2021
The year 2019 saw the launch of Stadia coupled with a Game Development unit. This unit was slated to make titles for the platform. With technology giant Google, offering two months of free access to its premium service as a gift, there was a huge explosion in the number of users. The year 2020 saw a huge rise in the number of users.
It was announced by Alphabet’s Google on this Monday that it would stop the development of games internally for Stadia. This would leave no option for Stadia but to be dependent on other game developers. The cloud-based streaming service would have to rely solely on other game publishers and developers for titles adding to a huge cost.
In a blog post, the Vice President and General Manager of Google Stadia, Phil Harrison said that they endeavored to provide the best games, to its users and this required a good deal of investment. It was also informed by Harrison that Jade Raymond, who was heading Google’s Stadia Games and Entertainment would resign and move on to seek other assignments.
Last year’s increase in the number of users is also being attributed to the COVID – 19 pandemic that necessitated the stay at home protocol and orders.
In an announcement made by Google in November 2020, new games were to be added to the subscription service of its Stadia pro. In December, titles were added and the line-up count increased to over 30.
Jack Buser, who is the Stadia Director of Games, disclosed in an interview, that 400 new games were scheduled for Stadia. The subscription of Stadia pro was priced at $9.99 which in INR is approximately 740 Rs. The subscription to Stadia Pro is available in select countries only. These countries are Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, the US, UK, and Italy. Currently, India does not figure in the list
