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Google Is Reportedly Trying to Salvage Stadia Under New Name Google Stream

33 points by haunter 5y ago

PaulHoule 5y ago
Ending the exclusives seems like a real mistake to me. It's hard to find a justification for why firms like Google would be interested in cloud gaming except for the fact that their competitors are. That is, what's in it for the consumer? The part about it making the world safe for phones by not requiring the consumer to buy a PC or game console seems bogus because phones are able to support hi-spec games today such as Genshin Impact. The one cloud gaming killer app I see is that they could have a monster machine with a huge number of CPU and GPU sockets that could simulate complex and highly coupled worlds with a relatively large number of players. I'm thinking of something halfway between Titanfall and the fictional Sword Art Online. If cloud gaming could offer an unprecedented experience then it could force the whole industry to change, but if it doesn't it just seems like something that trade publications can drone on and on about for years.
- throwntoday 5y ago
  Perhaps because they already have a cloud business they can bill internally to? Subscription services seem to bank on most users not exceeding $x worth of usage per month and just forgetting they are even subscribed. If Google invests in a streaming services to subsidize expansion of their cloud business, and collect more data along the way, it's probably a net profit in the long term.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- lethologica 5y ago
  It was never about the games for Google. It was about gathering more data points in their customers. What kinds of games do your like? How long do you play them for? and so on so that they can advertise better.
  - gundmc 5y ago
    I'm sorry, but this is an absurd theory. There are way easier and cheaper ways to identify gaming preferences than investing in state of the art hardware, software and networking to allow remote streaming of games.
    - lreeves 5y ago
      Yeah there's a reason linking accounts together gives you free items in a ton of games; Twitch Prime Loot might have started that trend but now everyone is doing it.
ryankrage77 5y ago
Terrible idea, now we'll have Google Stream and Microsoft Stream, and the average joe won't be able to tell them apart. There's already confusion with the XBOX One, One X/S and Series X/S.
- DerekL 5y ago
  I don't think that matters. It sounds like Google Stream is a service for businesses, not a consumer product.
- TowerTall 5y ago
  What is Microsoft Stream?
BudaDude 5y ago
At least it’s not YouTube Games. Yet.
musicale 5y ago
That "Stream" name reminds me of an internet PC game store we used to use - I think it was called "water vapor" or something...
nasretdinov 5y ago
Well, not the first time, right..? Good core technology, probably the best even, but no understanding of, well, business...
dbrueck 5y ago
Cool tech + crappy business model = little interest from consumers. Early on it was sort of described as a Netflix for games, but instead it became a thing where you pay full price for games, and maybe also a monthly subscription. Or something? The muddy messaging would be unsettling enough on its own, but given Google's notoriously short attention span, it screamed "stay away", so I did.
sylware 5y ago
So if I understand well, developers make a game work with stadia which is a linux based OS and are "advised" not to release the linux binaries for the other linux based distros? (cyberpunk 2077?)
FartyMcFarter 5y ago
I'm glad it is failing - I don't like the idea of the whole computing stack being outside the control of end users.

33 points by haunter 5y ago

Ending the exclusives seems like a real mistake to me. It's hard to find a justification for why firms like Google would be interested in cloud gaming except for the fact that their competitors are. That is, what's in it for the consumer? The part about it making the world safe for phones by not requiring the consumer to buy a PC or game console seems bogus because phones are able to support hi-spec games today such as Genshin Impact. The one cloud gaming killer app I see is that they could have a monster machine with a huge number of CPU and GPU sockets that could simulate complex and highly coupled worlds with a relatively large number of players. I'm thinking of something halfway between Titanfall and the fictional Sword Art Online. If cloud gaming could offer an unprecedented experience then it could force the whole industry to change, but if it doesn't it just seems like something that trade publications can drone on and on about for years.

throwntoday 5y ago
Perhaps because they already have a cloud business they can bill internally to? Subscription services seem to bank on most users not exceeding $x worth of usage per month and just forgetting they are even subscribed. If Google invests in a streaming services to subsidize expansion of their cloud business, and collect more data along the way, it's probably a net profit in the long term.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lethologica 5y ago
It was never about the games for Google. It was about gathering more data points in their customers. What kinds of games do your like? How long do you play them for? and so on so that they can advertise better.
- gundmc 5y ago
  I'm sorry, but this is an absurd theory. There are way easier and cheaper ways to identify gaming preferences than investing in state of the art hardware, software and networking to allow remote streaming of games.
  - lreeves 5y ago
    Yeah there's a reason linking accounts together gives you free items in a ton of games; Twitch Prime Loot might have started that trend but now everyone is doing it.

ryankrage77 5y ago

Terrible idea, now we'll have Google Stream and Microsoft Stream, and the average joe won't be able to tell them apart. There's already confusion with the XBOX One, One X/S and Series X/S.

DerekL 5y ago
I don't think that matters. It sounds like Google Stream is a service for businesses, not a consumer product.
TowerTall 5y ago
What is Microsoft Stream?

BudaDude 5y ago

At least it’s not YouTube Games. Yet.

musicale 5y ago

That "Stream" name reminds me of an internet PC game store we used to use - I think it was called "water vapor" or something...

nasretdinov 5y ago

Well, not the first time, right..? Good core technology, probably the best even, but no understanding of, well, business...

dbrueck 5y ago

Cool tech + crappy business model = little interest from consumers. Early on it was sort of described as a Netflix for games, but instead it became a thing where you pay full price for games, and maybe also a monthly subscription. Or something? The muddy messaging would be unsettling enough on its own, but given Google's notoriously short attention span, it screamed "stay away", so I did.

sylware 5y ago

So if I understand well, developers make a game work with stadia which is a linux based OS and are "advised" not to release the linux binaries for the other linux based distros? (cyberpunk 2077?)

FartyMcFarter 5y ago

I'm glad it is failing - I don't like the idea of the whole computing stack being outside the control of end users.