Google Stadia Reportedly Rebranding to Google Stream, Games Platform No Longer a Priority

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Google Stadia has struggled through a multitude of problems since arriving in 2019. From the lack of launch-day features and the loss of internal studios to several missed milestones, problems have cropped up at every turn. Google reportedly has a new strategy for Stadia. It will allegedly rebrand to Google Stream and pivot towards securing white-label deals.

The report comes from Business Insider, which claims Google is all but abandoning its attempts to turn Stadia into a games platform. Instead, 80% of its staff will be focused on acquiring white-label partnerships. That means using Google Stream technology to power third-party applications.

Google is yet to confirm the report. We’ve already seen the fruits of its licensing labor. Last year saw the arrival of a free browser game, Batman: Arkham Knight, which was built around Google Stadia’s framework. That success has led Google to seek deals with Peloton, Bungie and Capcom, and more will likely follow if these projects pan out as planned.

The Future of Google Stadia

The majority of employees are working on Google Stream’s white-label operation. But there’s still a fraction of its workforce dedicated to keeping Google Stadia alive as we currently know it. It’s clear that the consumer-facing platform is no longer a priority at the company. There are fewer games coming to the service than we’ve seen in the past. It also begs the question: what happens to your games if Google Stadia shuts down?

An old Reddit thread from three years ago offers a few answers. The official Stadia account went live to answer some burning questions.

“The games you buy on Stadia are yours to play,” said Stadia. “From day one we’ll support Takeout, so that you can download your game metadata, including saves if you want to.”

However, the community was quick to point out the careful phrasing of the reply, noting the usage of “yours to play” instead of “yours to keep.” Follow-up answers have been scarce in the following years. It remains unclear what will happen to your library if Stadia fades away. The best-case scenario would be a transfer to another platform. The worst-case scenario would be the deletion of your entire library.

For now, we’d recommend playing it safe and opting for another streaming service. There’s no shortage of options in today’s market, and many of them are showing fewer signs of wear and tear than Google’s ambitious Stadia.