#Google to add 100 games to Stadia soon

Google has promised to make more than 100 games available in their premium game streaming platform Stadia via a community blog.

The cloud video game streaming platform is of a highly ambitious design and will revolutionize gaming, making high-end games playable even on low-end PCs with no additional hardware requirement. A steady internet connection is needed to access Stadia.

For the time being, Stadia announced 9 games which will be added to the library soon. That includes Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition (Feb. 23), Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut (Feb. 23), It came from space and ate our brains (Mar. 2), FIFA 21 (Mar. 17), Kaze and the Wild Masks (Mar. 26), Judgment (Apr. 23), Killer Queen Black, Street Power Football, and Hellpoint.

This is despite Google downing the shutter on all their Stadia game development teams in January as part of a change in business model, according to a Kotaku report. A games industry source told the popular video game website that the American multinational technology giant had other plans and proceeded to cancel multiple projects which were slated for release in 2021.

The move led to the dissolution of two of Stadia’s game studios based in Montreal and Los Angeles and would affect 150 developers. This would also mark the exit of Jade Raymond from Stadia, an industry veteran who helped in the development of Assassins Creed for Ubisoft before moving on to EA.

According to Phil Harrison, head of Stadia operations, the company plans to offer Stadia to publishers which would turn it into a streaming platform for video game companies.

“We see an important opportunity to work with partners seeking a gaming solution all built on Stadia’s advanced technical infrastructure and platform tools. We believe this is the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry,” he informed through a blog post.

VGC sources confirm that Google had had plans for original content, before closing the book on two studios, as it went on to acquire Typhoon Studios and opened a new Stadia Games and Entertainment Studio led by Shannon Studstill, former head of God of War studio Santa Monica, in California — both of them ill-fated and prematurely axed to make room for something new.