Gaming has taken over the entertainment sector, compared to music and video combined. Games have developed a lot, though PC games and consoles market had a bleak 2018. Kim Bayley, ERA’s chief executive said, “The games industry has been incredibly effective in taking advantage of the potential of digital technology to offer new and compelling forms of entertainment. Despite being the youngest of our three sectors, it is now by far the biggest”.
Google plays a significant role in all aspects of our digital life. This is visible from internet options to online distribution to smartphones. Gaming is the only industry that it hasn’t tried to take over. Well, things have changed! Now, Google has come up with a digital gaming platform known as Stadia. It streams more than the console games bought on disc or downloadable. Stadia also has a controller with a YouTube sharing button. It helps to share and capture gaming moments on YouTube. The platform works well on laptops, PCs, smartphones and TVs. Google made public that Doom Eternal would be the first game available on this platform. It is expected to launch Stadia in 2019 in Europe, UK, USA and Canada.
Well, Microsoft happens to be one of the top gaming companies. A few days back, Microsoft and Sony expressed they are planning to work together. The rivals agreed to join hands for AI and cloud based gaming options. That’s quite a big deal! Microsoft released a statement saying, “The two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure. To support their respective game and content-streaming services. These efforts will also include building better development platforms for the content creator community.” The threat from other gaming rivals and Google’s launch pushed these big shots closer.
Microsoft – Xbox’s chief marketing officer, Mike Nichols said, “Emerging competitors like Google have cloud infrastructure, a community with YouTube, but they don’t have the content.” Google‘s advances in gaming were looked down by Microsoft. Microsoft claims that Stadia is not a match for Xbox console. They also added Google would lack high profile titles to attract gamers.
Google hopes to succeed with YouTube that is famous among skilled gamers. The partnership acts as a launch pad for the new gaming platform Stadia. Google’s Vice President and head of Stadia, Phil Harrison said, “Hundreds of millions of people watch gaming content on YouTube every single day. Our vision is to bring those worlds closer together”.
It’s not enough for Google to grow and bring in game developers. They have to make them stay without leaving. Game developers leave when there is less or no income involved. This is a topic that has to be well-taken care of by Google.
Google has many hurdles to handle in gaming to dominate the upcoming generation. How can this be achieved? Well, there should be a boost in getting games on this platform. Google has promised many game studios to have dev kits as of now. Google also uncovered the Stadia Games and Entertainment studio. As for the upcoming games, no further details have been released. We would have to wait and watch for the wonders that Google brings about.