When it comes to Google Stadia, the platform was extremely hyped at the beginning. There were thoughts that Google may have won over the marketplace as it was a streaming service and that players would have access to essentially all the games at launch. That turned out not to be entirely the case. While most had assumed Google Stadia would be a Netflix style service where a fee would grant users access to stream games as much as they’d like, it was instead just like any other digital marketplace.
Essentially, you would be able to stream the games if you had a strong and stable internet connection. However, for certain features, you would have to pay for a premium service. From there, it would become just like any other digital marketplace in that you’d purchase the games which would be unlocked and stored at Google’s servers. Unfortunately, for those that don’t have unlimited data for their internet service provider, using Google Stadia may prove to be problematic. Even without data being a problem, there are plenty of people out there that don’t see Google Stadia as much more than a failed service already.
Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, Raul Rubio who is the CEO of Tequila Works that created Gylt for the streaming platform feels that Google Stadia is like the early days of Steam. If you recall when Steam first got its start, there were questionable issues that rose up on the platform as well. You had everything from games taking too long to download and that consumers were paying the same price for a digital copy as they would for a physical boxed game. Now Steam is looked highly upon and a digital marketplace that gamers use frequently.
In Rubio’s eyes, this is the same issue that is going on right now with streaming and not necessarily Google Stadia. If Rubio is correct, years from now we will look back at streaming fondly like how we view digital marketplaces like Valve’s Steam. Likewise, it may mean that Google, among other companies, will have some growing room to work out all the issues and present features that will keep players interested.
