Search giant Google has closed its first-party Stadia Games and Entertainment developers.
In a blog post, VP and GM Phil Harrison wrote that while its tech was proven, it wouldn't be investing in its own games using the streaming platform anymore. Furthermore, Stadia Games and Entertainment boss Jade Raymond (pictured) has departed Google having previously joined the firm in early 2019 ahead of Stadia's reveal.
"Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially," Harrison wrote.
"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. With the increased focus on using our technology platform for industry partners, Jade Raymond has decided to leave Google to pursue other opportunities. We greatly appreciate Jade's contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. 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 was rolled out in November 2019 but Google only revealed its first internal studios the previous month. Raymond said that the search giant was setting up a developer in Montreal and admitted that it would be some time before we saw any first-party games. Well, we now never will so....
