Google has announced it’s shutting down its internal game development studios for its game streaming platform Stadia. This comes a mere fourteen months after Google launched the service.
According to a report on DigitalTrends, Google posted a blog saying that it will now focus on optimising the streaming platform for third-party developers.
“In 2021, we’re expanding our efforts to help game developers and publishers take advantage of our platform technology and deliver games directly to their players,” the blog post reads.
Google Stadia’s cutting some of its losses
“We see an important opportunity to work with partners seeking a gaming solution all built on Stadia’s advanced technical infrastructure and platform tools. We believe this is the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry.”
Google’s decision affects two studios – one based in Los Angeles and one in Montreal – who, at the time of this writing have produced no games. Kotaku reports that Google says it will make every attempt to absorb the roughly 150 affected employees into Google where possible.