Google negotiated with Bungie and Capcom to license Stadia's cloud gaming technology to them
When it was first announced in 2018, Google Stadia sounded revolutionary. The term cloud gaming at that time still sounded quite foreign to many people, and the idea that we could play a series of AAA games only with a fast and stable internet connection immediately aroused public attention.
Stadia officially launched in November 2019, but in just over two years, the service has barely been heard of.
Most recently, Stadia was even rumored to be in the process of shifting to a B2B or white label service under a new name: Google Stream — if you remember, Stadia was originally introduced as “Project Stream”.
Reportedly, Google seems to have secretly negotiated with several well-known publishers to become a supplier of cloud gaming technology for them.
One of them is Bungie, which last year reportedly considered presenting its streaming platform.
In his proposal, it was explained that Bungie would be in control of the content as well as the front-end aspect, while Stadia was appointed as the technology that powers the back-end, and the negotiations were said to have been going quite intensively.
But as we all know, Sony recently announced that it would acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion, and so far no one knows if that will affect Bungie and Google's plans.
Another publisher who also had discussions with Google was Capcom. The owner of the Resident Evil franchise reportedly intends to present demo versions of his new games by utilizing Stadia's cloud gaming technology, so that consumers can immediately try to play them from the browser.
So far, Google already has at least two partners who use the Stadia architecture for their respective gaming projects, namely Peloton and AT&T.
In July 2021, Peloton introduced a game to play using its line of stationary bikes. The game, titled Lanebreak, seems to run on the Stadia platform.
Then in October 2021, AT&T launched the game Batman: Arkham Knight via a website. Simply by opening the site in a computer browser, AT&T customers can immediately play the game without the need to download anything. AT&T itself has confirmed that the project can be realized thanks to the support of the Stadia architecture.
Another indication of Stadia's transition can be seen from the shift in the position of its top brass, Phil Harrison. It says that Phil now reports to the subscription services division under Jason Rosenthal, not to Google's hardware division boss, Rick Osterloh.
This job restructuring reportedly took place shortly after Google closed its internal game development studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment, in February 2021.
There are no details on the fate of Stadia as a consumer platform in the future, but it is explained that its priorities have dropped drastically compared to when the service was first launched.
Google's ambition to bring in AAA game titles is not as big as it used to be. On the other hand, what is being targeted is indie game titles which can be obtained with a cheaper contract value.
To be sure, since the closing of Stadia Games and Entertainment last year, Google is no longer interested in spending millions of dollars to secure game publishing rights on the Stadia platform.
They reportedly don't even have any intention of presenting the game exclusively on Stadia. The team's focus on Stadia as a consumer platform is estimated to be only 20% left.
Hearing news like this, it's natural for some to think that Stadia will completely pivot to the B2B segment. Google is aware of the public's concern about this, and the day after the Business Insider report went live, the Stadia Twitter account immediately posted:
“The Stadia team is working very hard for a great future for Stadia and cloud gaming. We hope you agree, and we know the proof is in play."
To be more convincing, the Stadia team also mentioned that their service will have more than 100 new games in 2022, not to mention some new features that they haven't been able to elaborate on.
Stadia is also proud to be able to offer 50 games that its Pro plan subscribers can claim this February.
Whatever happens, Stadia will most likely still exist in the future, although maybe not in the form we know so far (a platform for consumers with a subscription mechanism).
If you have to, Stadia's streaming technology can also be applied for non-gaming purposes, such as for 3D modeling and other heavy computing tasks.
Many Stadia employees reportedly have voiced ideas regarding the non-gaming application.
According to one Stadia employee, Google is currently only focusing 20 percent of its company's performance on working on the gaming segment.
Google itself also briefly explained the existence of Stadia which may be on the brink of 2022, with the phrase 'work hard for the future of Stadia'.