Google has a habit of embarking on ambitious projects and then dropping them at a moment's notice. One such project is game development, which Google allegedly started around the time it launched Stadia, back in November 2019.

However, now we're in 2021, and there are no first-party Stadia games and only very vague dialog surrounding whether we can expect any at all. So does this spell the end for the cloud gaming platform, or will Stadia ride out this storm and emerge in a stronger position?

Google Closes Stadia Gaming & Entertainment Studios

It is first important to look at what may be a catalyst to Stadia's demise, and that is Google's closure of the Stadia Gaming & Entertainment (SG&E) studios.

This cog in Stadia's clockwork handled development of first-party games. So, games that Stadia could really call its own. In-house exclusives that should only have been available on the Stadia platform and which would make use of its cloud tech.

The decision to close SG&E was, according to Stadia Vice President Phil Harrison, all down to finances and time, with funds diverted to growing Stadia as a platform.

It would seem that Harrison and the rest of SG&E management hadn't realized that developing large-scale AAA games was both a time-consuming and expensive exercise. Strange, considering they manage game development studios.

Why Might Studio Closure Spell the End for Stadia?

google stadia logo

It isn't necessarily the closure of the studios that will end Stadia. While SG&E may well have been working hard developing games in the background, Stadia's subscribers are yet to see any fruits of this labor.

Not one first-party title exists on the platform. OK, so it is relatively new, but Google made a wealth of promises when it announced and launched the service. Promises that it hasn't delivered upon. Ambitious-sounding first-party titles being one such promise.

The fact is, subscribers now won't be getting a feature they may have subscribed specifically for. Namely, in-house, Google-pedigree games. So they may well speak with their wallets and unsubscribe. You can see evidence of this across various online Stadia communities.

Redditor and r/Stadia member, u/the_john19, is one such subscriber who has lost confidence in the platform, thanks to all of Google's broken promises.

Looking around, other subscribers have indeed followed suit, citing mistrust and or a lack of confidence as their reason to leave. It would seem that the lack of first-party titles is playing second fiddle to concerns around Google's transparency. Redditor u/Alternative-Farmer98 agrees:

There are plenty of people across the Stadia community who feel exactly the same, these are just two of many examples. But is it all bad feeling from subscribers?

Will Google Stadia Survive as a Platform?

Well, there are two sides to every coin. As we've said, there are no SG&E games available anyway, so nobody has had a taste of anything that they'll go on to miss. But are subscribers saying anything positive about this news?

Many members of the Stadia community are (rightfully) outraged that the service they've invested in for 18 months won't have first party titles, which is what they wanted. However, some members of the community remain cautiously optimistic. Redditor r/abujei offers a balanced opinion:

This may well be true, but third-party developers don't want to work with Stadia in developing games. This isn't a recent thing, either. In March 2020, Business Insider reported that Google's offers were dissatisfying devs, only four months after Stadia launched.

The reasons devs give for not working with Google often focus on the same theme; cash. Google, they say, simply doesn't pay enough to work for. Hardly surprising, considering it thinks its own projects are too expensive.

If third-party developers will not develop games hand-in-hand with Google, favoring ports of existing games, then where does that leave Stadia? Stranded with little to nothing in terms of a unique selling point, that's where.

google stadia with controller

So, to answer the question at hand, the survival of Stadia relies solely on how Google plays its next move. The fact that it won't invest in its own games kind of hints toward Google also not paying third-party developers more money.

If Stadia doesn't have exclusive content, then subscribers are paying for "just another" cloud gaming platform, and there are plenty of competitors to choose from. Particularly as we know more about Amazon Luna and Nvidia GeForce Now is growing in popularity.

What's Next for Google Stadia?

stadia games selection

Who knows? Google hasn't had the best track record when it comes to communicating with its userbase. You only have to read what subscribers are saying to see this. With that in mind, we probably won't know what happens next until it has already happened.

If you like the idea of cloud gaming, then there are plenty of other avenues to explore. We've mentioned Nvidia's GeForce Now subscription service already, which is a great alternative (although it requires existing subscriptions to other services).

What we can say is that Google needs to be careful from hereon in. It has already alienated a large proportion of the Stadia community. Alienate more of its fanbase and it risks sabotaging Stadia completely, which really would be the end.