PC game streaming has been having a rough time of it the last few months. Google Stadia is trudging its way toward closure. Gamers have criticized the idea for being nonviable for most people who don’t have top-tier internet connections. Stadia has also had a major problem with its image and the availability of games.
The Blade Shadow service has become the latest casualty of the flailing industry. The company had a rough period when it first debuted at $34.95/month. The interest bumped up when the company lowered prices to $11.99. For hardware on the level of a GTX 1080 and modern CPU, that’s a steal. Too many players wanted to get into the service for some quality PC gaming as a result. That has now led to a company going bankrupt. Blade, the company behind Shadow PC streaming has filed for bankruptcy to deal with incurred debt from their ongoing operations.
As of now, they have not announced a major layoff, unlike Stadia.
The company hopes to keep things going however, as stated in a blog post titled “A New Beginning”, The company is continuing to offer services in some markets, with a hopeful push for future stability. The service found a ton of growth early on, and it made for a poison pill. The company became seriously indebted to server provider 2CRSi as their ability to fund expansion was exhausted by a ton of demand.
“This investment process goes through the inevitable stage of collective proceedings, in France and in the United States, which will give us the best chance of achieving the dreams and ambitions we set out to accomplish since day one,” wrote Blade. “Strengthened and emboldened by our experience, we now have a better understanding of the conditions for success.”
As of now, the developer insists that Shadow PC streaming services will remain live for now, as the intent here is to escape debt rather than shutter operations.
On the other side of the announcement, the debtor plans to liquidate the excess components that they put together for Shadow. The settlement in a Paris court will allow 2CRSi to reclaim €30.2 million worth of hardware from the servers that are being shelved.
“Given the shortage of electronic components and more specifically graphics cards since the end of 2020, there is a strong demand on the market for this type of equipment and 2CRSi has already received indications of interest from several customers for the servers involved,” the company wrote in a press release.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
