Google Teases More Than 100 Stadia Games
Google may have given up the ghost when it comes to making its own games, but hoping to cash in on the success of Project xCloud and PlayStation Now, the internet giant has confirmed over 100 new titles coming to the service in 2021. After the big three of Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony all released their own storefronts, the likes of Stadia already had a mountain to climb to overtake them. Sadly, while cloud gaming services including Nvidia GeForce Now have continued flourish, Google Stadia has slipped into the background as the modern Zune of the competitive gaming service scene.
Keen to prove it's not dead and buried yet, Google has championed 2021 as a year to watch for Stadia. After a lacklustre launch in late-2019, Stadia has struggled to compete with the rest and has already shuttered its own development department for in-house games. Following the pretty disastrous news that the Stadia Games and Entertainment division has closed on February 1, Google is unsurprisingly trying to drum up some positive press.
What are the 100 games coming to Google Stadia?
Following a grim start to the year, a Stadia community blog looked ahead to a brighter future and what's coming in the rest of 2021. Among the 100 new titles to look forward to, there's Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition (February 23), Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (February 23), It came from space and ate our brains (March 2), Kaze and the Wild Masks (March 26), Judgment (April 23), as well as unconfirmed release dates for Killer Queen Black, Street Power Football, and Hellpoint. That's all well and good, but the big hitter is the upcoming PC port of FIFA 21 coming on March 17.
Doubling down on the importance of its growing catalogue, the release read, "These games represent just a sampling of the more than 100 games that will be added to the Stadia store for our players in 2021 to share, experience, and play with friends. See below for more details on each game, including features and other new info!". Amazon Luna is launching as Jeff Bezos' answer to Stadia and sounds like it will be learning from the mistakes of its predecessor. Google had already promised around 400 in-development titles for Stadia, meaning a quarter of these are coming this year. We're hoping there are some other AAA titles in the pipeline to help save this drowning idea.
Can 100 games save Google Stadia?
Ultimately, the writing's on the wall for what happens next. The closure of the Stadia Games and Entertainment division was a massive blow for the company and saw industry veteran Jade Raymond also get shown the door. Back when Google was championing the potential of Stadia, the appointment of Raymond as the studio head was a massive piece of news, especially considering her legacy helping create Assassin's Creed. When the division closed, Stadia general manager Phil Harrison said, "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".
It seems like every week a new tech giant announces a cloud gaming service, and ultimately, not all of them will survive the hunt. Stadia hasn't exactly had it easy. Alongside technical issues from the start, Stadia was struck by the recent Cyberpunk 2077 scandal. Before CD Projekt Red's troubled title even launched, it was deemed as "make or break" for Stadia. Given the plethora of issues, refunds, and internal drama at CDPR, the widespread consequences have also been felt by Stadia. Sure, FIFA 21 is a major win, but is it enough to keep Stadia afloat? Personally, we're not quite sure. Google has a long way to go to shake off its troubled Stadia start, begging the question of if it ever will.
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