Google Says Studios to Blame for Lack of Stadia Titles

A lot of people – yours truly included – thought the Google Stadia would be a bigger deal than it ultimately was. Sure, the streaming platform has the potential to rock the gaming world, but right now, it’s a hard sell for people who aren’t terribly interested in playing two-year-old games with slight yet noticeable input lag. In truth, it’s the lack of games that prevents the Google Stadia from being competitive, and with two more games being removed from the platform today (Rise of the Tomb Raider and Samurai Showdown), that problem isn’t looking to fix itself soon, much to the irritation of fans on Reddit, who have been very vocal in expressing their displeasure. Especially since Google Stadia recently promised 120 new titles in the future.

Speaking with GamesIndustry, however, a Google rep stated that their displeasure is misdirected:

"We understand the desire to hear more specifics on the games. After all, that is what it is about: the games. Of course, not all 120 titles will be announced by the Stadia team, as we leave it up to the publishers to make the announcement about their IP/games, and which platforms it will appear on—just as we will do with the exclusive content coming to Stadia…

There are a lot of reasons for the time of those game announcements—anything from planned promotions or events, title readiness, proximity to first playable demo, shareholder requirements, etc. We continue to work closely with our publishing and developing partners and are here to support them in all areas. We are excited to share more about some of the exclusive games coming to Stadia soon."

So basically, they’re saying not to blame Google because the Stadia seems stagnant: blame the studios for not announcing and revealing more games.

That’s… a not untrue argument, but with as much money as Google has, you think they could have afforded to grab a few more games at launch, as well. So let’s not start throwing stones yet, Google.