After a series of older games being released for their platform; Google Stadia is firing a one-two punch this week with the release of two high-profile titles. The news today that Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 along with the recent DLC is coming to the platform; is good news for users looking for new content. Critics will point out that the base game is significantly cheaper now and as such a lower price offering on Stadia is not that big of a deal and interested gamers likely already have the game for other platforms.
What really makes the new interesting is the availability of the Warlords of New York DLC by the sale of the Special Editions of the game that they offer.
The release of DOOM Eternal I think will be very interesting as this is the first time that a major AAA title will release at the same time as other platforms and ahead of the Nintendo Switch version which may make the Stadia version attractive for those looking to play the game on the go.
Stadia has several detractors and the early sales and reception to the platform have not been what Google had hoped for. Now is the time for them to step up and prove that have what it takes to grow as a viable platform for gamers as the pending release of new consoles from Sony and Microsoft will also be an issue for them as new levels of graphics, performance, and exclusives may prove to be too much for them to contend with.
Google has to contend with a decision as to what their identity is and will be going forward. Will they be the viable release platform for AAA games as they have envisioned from the go or will it be a niche product that offers older AAA games on a flexible platform?
While it is difficult to get complete sales figures for the platform; most industry analyst have tabbed it from “disastrous to disappointing” and it is clear that the platform is facing an uphill battle against current and likely future gaming platforms.
Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs: Legions and Marvel’s: Avengers are all slated to come to the platform and remastered classics such as Destroy All Humans will reportedly be coming to the platform but to play Devil’s Advocate; no Call of Duty, No Jedi: Fallen Order, no Apex Legends, and the list goes on and on. That is for me what is the main thing to note is that the majority of developers still do not see the platform as essential to release their titles on.
There were reports that developers said that Google simply is not offering enough money for them to considering making their games for their platform and that additional funding would greatly increase the number of future releases that appear on the platform.
The issue with this of course is does Google want to pay more money to get games for a dwindling base or would they set ego aside and admit failure in order to decide if they want to go back into this market or simply return to what has made them such a success.
Some believe that what they have offered in the Stadia is a glimpse of the future of gaming but their timing and execution is what is lacking. Time will tell and it will be interesting to see what the response to the new releases will be.
