It’s always bad news when a game developer gets shut down, but in the case of Stadia Games & Entertainment, we can’t say it’s a big surprise. In an updated titled, “Focusing on Stadia’s future as a platform, and winding down SG&E,” Google announced they are shutting down their internal game development studio (around 150 people), while focusing on the cloud streaming console itself.
In other words, they’re pulling a reverse Sega, circa 2001.
“Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games,” writes Phil Harrison, Vice President and GM, Google Stadia.
Harrison also announced that high profile developer Jade Raymond (Assassin’s Creed), who joined the team as vice president in 2019, will leave Google. Raymond posted the following statement to social media: “I am proud of the team we built at Stadia Games & Entertainment, and the ground-breaking work on exclusive games for the platform. It was a difficult decision to take on a new opportunity, and I will be forever grateful to this team for everything we learned and achieved together.”
I am proud of the team we built at Stadia Games & Entertainment, and the ground-breaking work on exclusive games for the platform. It was a difficult decision to take on a new opportunity, and I will be forever grateful to this team for everything we learned and achieved together
— Jade Raymond (@ibjade) February 3, 2021
“We greatly appreciate Jade’s contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors,” states Harrison. “Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles. We’re committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them.”
Stadia Games & Entertainment had not yet released any games. Stadia is a cloud-streaming console, capable of playing supported games with only a controller and a stable, fast internet connection. Cyberpunk 2077 was one of its more successful releases, with better performance than last-gen consoles.
