In a talk at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference last week, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that he believes Google oversold Stadia’s potential. “The launch of Stadia has been slow. I think there was some overpromising on what the technology could deliver and some consumer disappointment as a result,” were his exact words.
Google’s game streaming service, Stadia, launched last November with all of the enthusiasm of a wet fart. Before launch, the company attempted to hype it up as the next big revolution in gaming, but most users weren’t impressed with the end product. Laggy gameplay, compressed video, and a lack of titles: it really didn’t make the best first impression.
Zelnick thinks the reason for that is the market just wasn’t there. “The belief that streaming was going to be transformative was based on a view that there were loads of people who really had an interest in interactive entertainment, really wanted to pay for it, but just didn’t want to have a console. I’m not sure that turned out to be the case.”
It should be noted that Zelnick has a history of dismissing streaming and subscription-based services. In his eyes, gaming is a more involved entertainment medium and he sees that as a reason for people avoiding it. He wants the company’s titles to be “where the consumers are,” which isn’t subscription services.
That doesn’t really hold up to the numbers Microsoft is touting with Xbox Game Pass, but it does explain his recent statement about Stadia. Zelnick was previously more in support of streaming, but he likely now views it in a similar fashion to subscriptions. Players aren’t getting the experience they want and Zelnick doesn’t want to lose out on profit supporting Google’s failed promise.
Seeing how Stadia works, I can’t disagree with Zelnick here. Google may be onto something with the idea it has established, but the United States’ internet infrastructure is not there. With cable companies fighting tooth and nail to nickel and dime customers on net service, it’s going to be a long time before speeds are reliable and cheap enough for Stadia to make sense.
Source: GameSpot
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