Monetization Method

What is the price? That’s the most popular among Stadia’s mysteries right now. But the more important question, in my opinion, is, what type of business model will be adopted to monetize the service. The industry trend currently is that any game platform, be it PlayStation, Xbox or PC has a price of admission in the form purchasing the hardware required. Distribution platforms where a game can be purchased like Steam and Epic games store are free of cost. And game streaming service like PS NOW and Xbox Game Pass is monetized through subscriptions at the expense of free games as part of the service. But Stadia looks to take all of the above forms, by serving a platform to make games, be a streaming service to access those games (albeit without the need of downloading them unlike PS Now and Xbox Game Pass), and most probably sell those games in its own storefront. Google’s new service does not have hardware to charge a $300-400 premium to begin the service. A subscription model would mean that they have to cater to the expectation of free games that comes with such a business model. If so, how will game purchases be made? It looks like whichever model Google chooses will contradict to the market trends. The other way of looking at it is Google can choose whichever model it sees fit and make it look good with some clever PR. Whatever the case, I honestly feel that their approach would be pro-consumer and would offer immense value. And if there is one company that can afford to offer great value for the sake of a vast customer base, it’s Google. Microsoft is already doing it with its array of services. If MS can, so can Google.

Where are the games?

Doom Eternal is coming to Stadia. Great. But what else? Going into the live stream I was expecting some kind of game announcements or at the very least, support for a few already released AAA games. And at one point I really thought that this was going to happen as a shout out was given from the stage to Yves Guillemot who was in the audience, for Ubisoft’s partnership to offer AC Odyssey to be tested on this service last year. So just when I was ready to get hit by the announcement of games, the show drifted off elsewhere. What transpired later only brought my hopes further down, as any games mentioned seemed to be way too early in development or only existed as concepts. Furthermore, while mention of studios and developers kept floating in the event, big guns like EA, Take-Two, and even Ubisoft was never mentioned or hinted to be providing any kind of support. We have seen time and again that the games decide the success of a platform. And while Google’s own Stadia development studios is a positive sign, lack of third-party developers’ support may sound trouble for the service. Google has hinted at more being revealed later and from where I see it, this event needs to be big on games. Show only games. Speak only games. Then release your service. Here’s hoping they do just that.

A Streaming platform. But at what bandwidth?

Streaming is great. Platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime has shown us the luxury of binge-watching along with other conveniences of streaming. Streaming games though is a whole other ball game. There have been companies in the past that have attempted this and failed, (remember OnLive?) and there are companies that still struggle to provide a consistent experience (PS Now). Both companies at one point claimed that a 5 Mbps download speed would suffice to get the best experience, which is far from the truth in practice. Considering Google’s lofty ambitions in terms of graphics fidelity and mechanics in its games, one would wonder what kind of internet speed is required to get the most out of the service? Unfortunately, this is a question that only Google can answer, as technology has indeed come a long way since OnLive. Optimisation often does wonders, and we can only wait and see how far Google will take it.

How many of the extended features will stay relevant in a few years?

With every new console/service come features that are new and exciting. Some of these features make sense and stand the test of time, like the rumble feature in game controllers. Then there are features like the Xbox One’s Kinect and DualShock 4’s touchpad that is exciting at first but then lose their significance rather quickly. With not much hardware to play with, Stadia’s features come in the form of different types of user experiences. Admittedly some of the features like Stream Connect and State Share are intriguing and may prove to add a lot of value to the service. However, features related to content creators do seem redundant from the get-go and it already has some raise their eyebrows. With the Crowd Play feature, for instance, streamers do have a great way to engage with their audiences. That said, considering the toxicity that is visible in YouTube comments for streamers, they also stand a chance of getting trolled by their own viewers in their own games. Google has mentioned that the content creators will have full control over these features, so here’s hoping that this is put to good use.

Will Stadia evolve into the next Google Play?

All scepticism aside, what Google showcased in the event was truly impressive. If we assume that everything revealed stays true and functions as promised, Stadia would turn into a haven for developers big and small. This, of course, comes with its own set of problems. The initial drought of games that occurs in any new game console/service may mean that Google gives the green light for any new game that is made for the platform which may result in rushed, lack lustre games making it to its library. Google needs to implement strict quality checks before a game hits its platform to ensure that it does not mutate into another Play Store or Steam filled with shovel ware. It would be interesting to see what sort of approach Google takes in managing the sales of games on its platform.

Google revealed plenty while holding back even more during the event. By the looks of it, Google does seem like a legitimate competitor for Sony and Microsoft. It all depends on how well Google executes the service, the pricing, and above all, the games. With Microsoft also rumoured to unveil their new console at E3, 2019 just turned out to be more interesting than it already was.

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The press conference made a few things clear. That Google is serious about this and has invested heavily with a huge resource pool. They seemed to have checked all boxes to deliver a compelling experience in terms of content with a focus on ease of access. But it was also as Google like as it could be. Here is a breakdown of the most noteworthy points from the conference.

A platform which is Gamer, Developer and Content Creator friendly

Google are establishing Stadia as a platform that is very developer friendly by offering their data centre as the platform, thus removing the limitations of the computing power offered within a box.

For gamers, this would mean high quality games which are ready in the datacentre and could be accessed instantly avoiding download and install times. This can be done on a multitude of devices like a tablet, PC, smartphone or Smart TV. And google have gone all the way to ensure that these games can be accessed from anywhere, quite literally. You can instantly play the game right after watching a trailer, or after doing a search on it, or while going through the game’s website. Google seemed to have been on a mission to offer the game to you right when your mind says “I wish I could play this” without having to go through the process of getting to a particular console/PC platform, loading it and then getting to play. Because, you know, you could drift away in to something else in the process and the business opportunity for that game is then lost. And Hey, who doesn’t like such ease of access.

The same amount of focus and effort can be seen in the integration of Content creator friendly options. The platform enables a more comprehensive interaction between content creators and their community, with options like having the community play with the creators in the same session. And having the ability to stream simultaneously while playing without any compromise in quality, within the same platform.

Backed by Impressive Tech, Partnerships and Hardware

Google claims that the Stadia features 10.7 GPU teraflops per instance which is more powerful than XB1 and PS4 pro combined. This no doubt will result in great looking games and it would be interesting to see how the games of the future will use the extra horsepower. The platform was tested back in October last year by the name of Project stream, where a resolution of 1080p was achieved with 60FPS on a graphics heavy AAA title (AC Odyssey) without any latency. Google promises that this will be bumped up to 4K @ 60FPS at launch with support for 8K @ 120FPS coming in the future. They also threw in the fact they will embrace full cross platform support (yet another slap on the wrist for Sony).

To help facilitate these games, Google announced that they have partnered with Unreal and Unity for game engines and several other middleware providers. Googles claims to have sent development hardware to more than 100 studios with over a 1000 creatives and engineers working on games for the platform. ID software was on the show floor to announce Doom Eternal on Stadia, which would run at 4K @ 60FPS. Google also announced, “Stadia games and entertainment studios”, an in house games studio headed by none other than Jade Raymond which will not only focus on first party games but also provide support to partner studios.

While these games can be played using any controller or keyboard, they also unveiled a new hardware in the form of the Stadia controller. Unlike conventional controllers, the Stadia controllers connects through wi-fi and directly accesses the data centre which runs the game, thus reducing latency. The controller also features a dedicated capture button to instantly share your play sessions on YouTube, and a Google Assist button to help you with the game on the fly, without having to look elsewhere.

More Google like than ever before…

Of course, no Google product is complete without its set of unique tools and Stadia is no different as it offers various options to devs, gamers and content creators. Below is the list of a few notable tools.

Stream Connect brings couch multiplayer back but with different stadia instances. This means that resources need not be shared by a single session there by compromising on quality. Instead each player on the screen will have their own play sessions, sort of like a LAN setup where multiple consoles work on their own sessions, but while displaying on a single screen.

State Share helps players share a playable moment from a precise point in a game including world state, player position inventory etc, all of which can be encoded with a link that can be shared with any number of people over the internet and not just your friends list.

Style transfer ML, uses machine learning to help save time on art. This was demoed on stage with a Dev explaining how it helps save time through the development process. And honestly, it was quite impressive.

Crowd Play helps you connect with content creators like never before, by letting you take part in the game session that is being streamed live.

And that was the conference in a nutshell. Admittedly this did not receive as much hype or attention prior to the showcase, but what was shown sure has the potential to change gaming as we know it. Google has managed to get everybody’s attention as a result. That’s not to say it looks perfect. There are quite a few questions looming over Stadia and it is yet to be seen how everything will be executed. However, let’s wear our positive hats on and stay excited for what is to come. All the best to Google. Keep us enthralled through your games.

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