Google isn’t giving developers reasons to put their games on Stadia

While initial impressions of Stadia, Google’s on-demand game streaming service, were promising, hype around the service is quickly fading. The reason? Mainly, the lack of games. At the time of this writing, Google Stadia is only home to 28 games.

28 games. In a sea of AAA and indie games, 28 is almost laughable. Yes, Google has noted that 120+ new games are coming in 2020, but it doesn’t change the fact that, for now, there is nothing to bring gamers in.

Now, in a report from Business Insider, it looks like there isn’t much to bring developers in either.

Long story short? Many devs and publishers have no reason to put the game on the platform.

If you are an indie developer, deciding what platforms your game goes on can be a big deal. You don’t have the budgets of AAA studios and that means being picky is sometimes a necessity. When asked by BI, a handful of developers noted that “the incentive” just isn’t there.

Whether it is money or audience, developers and publishers alike have noted that they see no real reason to be on Stadia. In regards to money, one person spoke anonymously, stating, “It’s that there isn’t enough money there.” Going on to say that the offer was “so low that it wasn’t even part of the conversation.”

Another indie developer noted that it’s not always about the money, but there at least needs to be some sort of security with the deal, and that’s just not there with Stadia.

Game streaming continues to gain momentum, so it’s not over for Google, but with Microsoft’s xCloud and other services gaining traction, the company will need to get it together sooner rather than later.

What do you think? Surprised to hear that Stadia is having issues or did you see this coming? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Can you play your Stadia games once the Pro subscription runs out?
• Umm, so Google Stadia pre-orders didn’t guarantee day one access
• How to get an invitation to Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming service
• GeForce Now, Nvidia’s game streaming service, is now out of beta

Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.