For all the promise of gaming on the cloud, few companies have had it as rough as Google. Its Stadia cloud gaming platform has seen the gamut of issues. And just yesterday, a new report suggested the platform may be facing even more dire straights. John Justice, the vice president and head of product for Google Stadia has left the company. His departure, however, is really only the latest in a series of potential setbacks for the platform.
Justice’s departure was mentioned in a report by The Information. Later, it was confirmed by 9to5Google, which reached out to the company for clarification. In the reply, Google confirmed that Justice is no longer at the company. But hey, at least Google offered its best wishes.
It’s certainly odd and concerning to see such the departure of such a key figure go by without much ceremony. In February, Google reported the loss of Jade Raymond, the famed producer and the one behind the creation of the Assassin’s Creed series. She was acquired by the company and put in charge of Stadia game development. Justice’s quieter exit certainly suggests that there may be more problems below the surface.
No Justice for Stadia
Of course, Raymond’s departure was only one part of a surprising shakeup by the company. She left because Google had decided to end all internal game development and rely on third-party companies to fill the void. Raymond was one of about 150 employees who lost their jobs at Google following the move. Naturally, things weren’t looking good for Google’s big cloud gaming push. After today, the future looks even hazier.
Google Stadia is still limping on, however. The service allows users to play PC games over the cloud via its Stadia Pro subscription. It costs $9.99 a month, and can be accessed by PC, smartphones, and TVs with a Stadia controller. Not all games are free to play, but the subscription does offer discounts on games like Far Cry New Dawn and more.
Published: May 4, 2021 03:00 pm