The Google Stadia already seems to be on thin ice with its early adopters; a far cry from when it was considered a possible ‘console killer’ coming straight from the tech giants themselves. With some heralding it prior to launch as the likely future of gaming, and others expecting at least what Google promised on the launch, it’s been a bit of a bumpy road for many owners of the game streaming platform.
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and the Stadia had a veritable slew of intent that was, at once point, promising to shake up the gaming industry world.
Then it launched, and everything went south quicker than most could realize; users realized the Stadia couldn’t stream at 4K resolution for many, or even reliably maintain 2K. The unit was prone to overheat, and the data costs could become monumental without users realizing it.
https://twitter.com/GoogleStadia/status/1219703803450028032
Still, as is the norm when large products are announced, a core of believers in the technology grew and went to build the Google Stadia subreddit at /r/Stadia. This is a group of users that have encircled the tech; early adopters eager to change how games are played in the modern era. Arguably a core of users that want the Stadia to grow the most, and they’ve become a bit fed up for a litany of reasons that are all listed surprisingly concisely for an internet forum.
While the list is long (and all points valid), it all seems to come to a head with one singular bullet; Google has stopped updating their fans, and seemingly, the Stadia itself. What was initially daily updates to a crowd of fans eagerly awaiting news, then unceremoniously became weekly updates, which was also scrapped. The subreddit presumes that they can expect bi-monthly updates from the tech giant that otherwise seems perfectly content with keeping its core userbase in the dark.
While 120 games were announced in January, no one has any idea what those games could even be; the library that Stadia offers is stifling small, even months after release. Heck, even Epic Games Store grew its library faster than one of the world’s largest and most proliferate technological companies seems to be able to.
Many users are beginning to feel duped into purchasing the hyped-up flagship enterprise, stating that they feel as though the Stadia was more of an expensive beta test than anything else.
When the core fan group behind a product begins to express a litany of concerns en-masse, it’s likely time for the technology to begin sweating. In an era where Google seems almost omnipresent, it’s almost funny how they don’t seem to be at the one place they’re currently needed.
