Stadia Games & Entertainment - What Should Have Happened

I was recently on Reddit, as I am pretty often, and I came across a post on r/Stadia asking a question that I thought was very thought provoking: What would have worked for Stadia Games & Entertainment (SG&E)? Posted ideas ranged anywhere on the spectrum - from transforming the studio into a team of consultants specializing in game ports, to building their own playable demos.

I think it's much less concrete than that.

Given the news we have had over the last week, it seems that everybody is hyper focused on specific issues that can be solved - but I want you to read that as legacy issues that need to be solved.

Most people are thinking about Stadia in PlayStation or Xbox terms - still.

Stadia doesn't have a physical presence like other consoles do, but that also means it's difficult for the general public to wrap their heads around. 

"We need game demos."

"We need Stadia exclusives."

"We need millions of dollars thrown toward new games because that's obviously how we grow."

Well, if you're Xbox or PlayStation, sure. Those companies need to have exclusives, and they have a massive incentive to build their platforms. Every console is sold at a loss and made up again through the sale of games.

Stadia is the opposite. They do make money off of games, but their business model is completely different than any other game experience to date.

"Stadia doesn't need exclusive games to make money. They need users."

If I were in charge of SG&E, I would shift my focus from paving my own road with new exclusives, to paving the road behind us - by porting old, classic games to the platform. Older games carry nostalgia, which has time and again proved to be a very strong bargaining chip (as we saw with the new Razr folding phone).

Old games like OG Doom, Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Classic Mario, and other games from the Gamecube/N64 era can currently be played on any device using an emulator. Why can't these games be ported to Stadia?

Will Stadia make a killing by selling old games? No, probably not, but do you know what will eventually happen? Stadia will become synonymous with the ability to instantly play any game, past, present, and future. It will become a household name like Firestick or Ring. 

Stadia doesn't need exclusives. Exclusivity deals, console wars, and Console V PC are all very dumb debates in the modern era. Pick your preference. The user will get a nearly identical experience regardless of what hardware they choose. Obviously there are exceptions, but most of those come from highly dedicated players or professionals, and that's not Stadia's target demographic anyway.

In conclusion:

Dear Stadia,

SG&E doesn't have to become a port studio for old games, but either way, I think this would pay dividends in the long run, and provide some pretty major damage control to the public perception of Stadia as a platform.

Also, I really just want to play Doom II on my favorite console 😅

- Michael Secret