Take-Two CEO: Google overpromised with Stadia

[midian182]

A hot potato: Remember the run-up to Stadia’s launch, when Google claimed it would change the gaming industry with its 4K 60fps performance? The service hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, and now the CEO of Take-Two has said what many of us are thinking: Google overpromised.

In a talk at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said (via Gamespot): "The launch of Stadia has been slow. I think there was some overpromising on what the technology could deliver and some consumer disappointment as a result."

As with other cloud gaming services, the amount of enjoyment people get from Stadia is often tied to the quality and price of their internet connection. There are just over 30 games available right now, which isn't a lot, though more are coming.

Zelnick notes that Take-Two released three titles for Stadia at launch and it will continue to support streaming services "as long as the business model makes sense." But he expressed concern that the target audience of people who wanted to play video games but don’t own a console isn’t very large.

"The belief that streaming was going to be transformative was based on a view that there were loads of people who really had an interest in interactive entertainment, really wanted to pay for it, but just didn't want to have a console. I'm not sure that turned out to be the case."

Back in March, Google tried to increase the number of $10 per month Stadia Pro subscribers by giving away three months free to Chromecast Ultra owners, but that same month brought news that Doom Eternal wouldn’t run at true 4K on the service despite developer id Software’s promise.

Despite the struggles, Stadia is adding new games all the time, including PUBG, Jedi Fallen Order, and Octopath Traveler. Google also announced that Serious Sam 3 would be a Stadia (and PC) timed exclusive this August. But with the next-gen consoles on their way, will the streaming service lose even more headline space this holiday season?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/85445-take-two-ceo-google-overpromised-stadia.html

 

[sdsdv10]

Games are not the main issue with Stadia, it's the pricing structure. Pay for the service (except is you use the down graded free version), pay for games and if Googe closes Stadia down, you lose everything. Why would anyone buy into that ecosystem???

 

[Trillionsin]

Games are not the main issue with Stadia, it's the pricing structure. Pay for the service (except is you use the down graded free version), pay for games and if Googe closes Stadia down, you lose everything. Why would anyone buy into that ecosystem???

As with other cloud gaming services, the amount of enjoyment people get from Stadia is often tied to the quality and price of their internet connection.

There's too much bad vs the good.

I dont know about you guys, but I can't stand input lag. Even Mario games are unplayable if your jump isnt within 10ms of pushing the button, you just keep falling off the ledge and dying, etc. lol There's enough input lag between the console and the TV to annoy me.

 

[seeprime]

Games are not the main issue with Stadia, it's the pricing structure. Pay for the service (except is you use the down graded free version), pay for games and if Google closes Stadia down, you lose everything. Why would anyone buy into that ecosystem???

Perhaps Google should state that they will over refunds for all purchases, if and when they kill off Stadia. That might get a few fencesitters on board.

 

[Nobina]

Why would I want another layer between me and the game? It just introduces a bunch of inconsistencies. Playing locally ftw.

 

[Evernessince]

My internet goes down about twice a week, often on the weekend when ironically that's the only time I'm gaming. Companies should ensure people have have quality internet before pushing a product that relies heavily on it. As it stands right now, a good chunk of the US population doesn't even have the option of using this service, simply due to poor internet choices.

 

[toooooot]

I wanna try it. There is a Trial with free 15 days window to return chromecast and controller for free.
What I am curious about is online gaming. I wannna know how noticeable is the lag. Although, it does make little sense for a lott of people right now.
But who knows, maybe at one poitn they will have 99% of all games pc xbox and ps5 in one package. Then some people might be tempted into this service.

 

[Markoni35]

Did anyone ever believed that such a system would work as promised? It was basically returning computing to 1960'es and 1970'es when you had a mainframe computer with tons of stupid terminals connected to it. Did anyone really believed that would work for gaming? LOL.

 

[Danny101]

My internet goes down about twice a week, often on the weekend when ironically that's the only time I'm gaming. Companies should ensure people have have quality internet before pushing a product that relies heavily on it. As it stands right now, a good chunk of the US population doesn't even have the option of using this service, simply due to poor internet choices.

Given the load on the system now and the expected load this will encourage, it never seemed feasible. The only usefulness I can see is casual gaming and as a supplementary to Android games system. Many of those, I would want on a big screen along with a controller anyway. Creating a new ecosystem when they already have one in Android Gaming seems silly to me.