In four decades, gaming has evolved from a niche hobby to a multibillion dollar industry. Sony and Microsoft gained ground 20-plus years ago, cementing themselves as integral parts of the business. Recent years have seen other non-gaming enterprises enter the race, too, hoping to cut themselves a slice of the very lucrative pie. But unfamiliarity with game development’s myriad idiosyncrasies placed the likes of Amazon in a difficult position, thus resulting in canceled projects and layoffs.
When Google threw its hat into the ring with Stadia, the expectation was that the conglomerate had learned from its competitor’s mistakes. However, Google’s penchant for abandoning risky ventures left many to believe Stadia would constitute a yet another short-lived experiment. The company wasted no time proving the skeptics right.
Stadia launched as a cloud-based gaming solution designed to lower the barrier of entry to Triple-A experiences. On top of investing on a technological level, Google also positioned game creation at the forefront of its vision. Ambitions of producing multimillion-dollar IP informed its lofty goals, engendering the establishment of the Stadia Games and Entertainment division that oversaw first-party studios.
Unfortunately, pre- and post-launch missteps later revealed that Google put the cart before the horse, building advanced technology before partnering with developers who knew how best to leverage it. And when a team of industry veterans did finally come on board, senior leadership expected near-immediate results without the necessary resources in play. As a result, Stadia’s quick demise is far from the only victim of Google’s mismanagement.
