When Google shut down Stadia in January, it also cut off third-party access to the underlying cloud gaming technology. Jack Buser from Google says AxiosStephen Totilo, his company, no longer offers Immersive Stream for games because it was “tied to Stadia.” A supplier can’t just pick up the pieces, to put it another way.
Only a handful of brands have ever used Immersive Stream, and mostly as a promotional tool. AT&T lets mobile subscribers play batman: arkham knight and Controlwhile Capcom offered a Resident Evil Village demo that saved curious gamers the hassle of a download. Even Peloton used the technology to create a fitness game. lane breakto their stationary bikes.
Google’s Jack Buser told me, “We’re not offering that streaming option, because it was tied to Stadia. So, unfortunately, when we decided not to go ahead with Stadia, that kind of [business-to-business] the offering could no longer be offered as well.”
— Esteban Totilo (@stephentotilo) March 8, 2023
We have asked Google for feedback. The company isn’t completely ignoring cloud gaming, but it’s now relegating itself to support. As Jack Buser tells of the firm Axios in an interview, the focus now is to support others Destinationstyle live service games by providing a server platform, data management and analytics. Developers may not need to invest as much in online infrastructure or worry about scaling as their player base grows. Niantic, Ubisoft and Unity are among the existing clients.
Immersive Stream’s closure is not surprising. While it didn’t require Stadia’s heavily subscription-based model, it did suffer from the same limitations as many game streaming services. You needed a fast and stable internet connection, and you still had to deal with increased lag and reduced visual quality compared to a locally stored game. That limited the appeal, particularly for gamers with powerful enough PCs and consoles.
At the same time, the shutdown limits the industry’s options. There is no longer a true turnkey cloud gaming option. Companies have to create their own platforms or bring their games to existing services like GeForce Now. As such, it may be a while before you see more AT&T or Capcom-style forays.
