Axios today published an article that stems from an interview with Google’s Jack Buser, “Director of Game Industry Solutions”, who highlighted how Google is now focused on positioning its Google Cloud Platform (GCP) tools for game developers and publishers. They offer a wide variety of tools in this space for hosting storage, APIs, analytics, server apps etc. Buser highlighted that Google is one of a few cloud service providers that can put all these things together.
However, the story’s author also took to Twitter to add the additional info that these B2B offerings will not include Stadia like streaming support:
Something not in my story but that may clear up some confusion: Google is not offering its Stadia-style game-streaming to clients. While it had offered that for some business deals (like streaming a Batman game to AT&T 5G users), that’s ended.
Google’s Jack Buser told me: “We are not offering that streaming option, because it was tied to Stadia itself. So, unfortunately, when we decided to not move forward with Stadia, that sort of [business-to-business] offering could no longer be offered as well.”
End of Speculation
We, ourselves, had speculated (even before Stadia’s demise) that Google could use its Stadia streaming tech to partner with a publisher. For example, Ubisoft, who has its own game store and platform could have potentially used Immersive Stream to build their own first party cloud gaming service.
This direct questioning of and feedback from Jack Buser appears to put an end to that speculation. Practically speaking, his comments confirm that Google Immersive Stream is no more. While the news is a little disappointing, we also weren’t exactly looking forward to a world where every publisher launched their own distinct cloud gaming service either.
To a large extent, Amazon Luna already exists in this “white label” space. The Ubisoft+ channel on Amazon Luna (launched in late 2020) has next to nothing Amazon or Luna about it. It utilizes Ubisoft’s own “Connect” platform for friends, multiplayer gaming, achievements, leaderboards etc. You actually pay for the subscription and/or purchase games directly from an Ubisoft’s store (not Amazon). So, if other publishers are interested in this approach, there is still an option for them. That said: Google Immersive Stream is, sadly, no more.
