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Google says it'll be a while before we see Stadia first-party games

Google says it'll be a while before we see Stadia first-party games

Search and software giant Google has said that it might be "several years" before we see projects from its Stadia Games and Entertainment first-party studio.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the VP and head of that development outfit in Montreal Jade Raymond said that for the time being, Google will be focusing on third- and second-party projects for its cloud games platform Stadia. That is set to roll out on November 19th, but many of the staff working at the Stadia first-party studio - including Raymond - only joined the company very recently.

The first-party boss also said that some of the external projects coming to Stadia might feature additional functionality, too, such as integration with its YouTube video platform.

Furthermore, Raymond stressed that Google is looking long into the future on Stadia, likely trying to assuage concerns about whether the company is going to stick around in games for a while or will drop out as it has with many projects and tech platforms in the past.

"It is a long term view that Google is taking," she said.

"For a big bet and a huge new IP that's going to fully leverage the cloud, it may be several years. But we do have quite a few exclusive games in the works that will demonstrate some of the exciting things about the platform all along the path. It won't be four years before gamers get to see the new exclusive, exciting content. There will be some coming out every year, and more and more each year."

She continued: "Initially we're going to have some interesting indie-style titles we sign and they might look a little different, or take advantage of a YouTube integration, or have a different role for a streamer. But they won't right away solve every problem or uncover every possibility of what cloud-native gaming is going to open up."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.