Google shifts gaming focus from Stadia to Stream, a third-party service

Google Stadia may be rebranded as Google Stream to facilitate services from other companies. It’s not clear what impact this would have on the Stadia platform and customer purchases.

The underlying technology of the as yet standalone game platform should serve as a white-label product, former and current Google anonymous employees tell Business Insider. In this way, Google Stream would provide services for third parties, who would release the product under its own name. Home sports company Peleton, Bungie and Capcom, among others, are said to be in talks with Google about Stream. Bungie, which has already been acquired by Sony, for example, would like to set up its own streaming service, built on Stadia technology.

At the end of 2021, it was noticeable that Google was already doing this unannounced for AT&T, which in retrospect may have been a test for the new Stream branch. More than a year after the release of Stadia, Google was found to be closing its own game studios, after which a similar statement was made: “Our goal remains focused on creating the best possible platform for gamers and technology for our partners,” the company said. .

Only 20 percent of the Google Stadia team would still be working on the actual consumer platform. “There are plenty of employees who [Google Stadia] want to keep working, so they fight hard to make sure the project doesn’t come to an end. But they are not the ones making the decisions,” said those involved.