Google shuts down its in-house Stadia game development division

Google has announced to shut down its in-house Stadia game development division, as it sees a great adoption of its technology by third-party developers and publishers to create world-class games.

Google said that it will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from its internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games.

"With the increased focus on using our technology platform for industry partners, Jade Raymond has decided to leave Google to pursue other opportunities. We greatly appreciate Jade's contribution to Stadia and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavours," said Phil Harrison, Vice President and GM, Google Stadia.

Over the coming months, most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles.

"We're committed to working with this talented team to find new roles and support them," Harrison said in a statement on Monday.

If you're a current or future Stadia gamer, you can continue playing all your games on Stadia and Stadia Pro.

Google said that with the recent successful launch of 'Cyberpunk 2077' game on Stadia, gameplay on all types of devices, including iOS, growing its slate of YouTube integrations and global expansions, it's clear that Stadia's technology has been proven and works at scale.

"Having games streamed to any screen is the future of this industry, and we'll continue to invest in Stadia and its underlying platform to provide the best cloud gaming experience for our partners and the gaming community," the company noted.

In 2021, Google said the it will expand efforts to help game developers and publishers take advantage of its platform technology and deliver games directly to their players.

--IANS

na/