Google Stadia hasn’t had the easiest time since launch. With a meager launch lineup combined with the already-existing technical hurdles, the cloud gaming effort is going to have a tough time breaking down barriers and growing in the next few years. For Google, this is a bad sign as the reception from this early time can easily color public feeling toward your service throughout its entire life. Additionally, Google has likely already sunk considerable time, money and resources into Stadia, and they need a constant stream of new users to make a profit.
For the other big names in tech and gaming though, Google’s woes are there good news. A new report from Kotaku alleges that “Both companies (…) had been terrified of Google’s entry into the video game space after rumors started circulating in early 2018 that the tech conglomerate was doing something big,” says the report. “Over the past couple of years, a number of developers have remarked to me that staff at both PlayStation and Xbox would talk frequently and reactively about Google’s plans, emphasizing each company’s own response to streaming as a result.”
Now, as the specter of Google doesn’t loom quite as large over their heads, Microsoft and Sony can breathe a little easier.
Sony has been pushing harder on harder on diversification, while also focusing their efforts. The PS5 has been growing consistently in notice and hype these last few months. The gaming titan will be looking to take an early lead in the console battle next gen, set to begin in 2020 with a more powerful console that’s also competitively priced. The Japanese company is even looking deeper into the future, trademarking multiple future Playstation brandings, all the way to the tenth console.
Sony even shelved Playstation Vue, an otherwise unremarkable TV streaming service, as the growth wasn’t what they wanted. Sony is still committed to bringing quality entertainment for gamers to the mainstream though. Sony has previously teased plans for TV and films on this front, but little else has been confirmed.
Microsoft on the other hand has been even more focused on Xbox. According to that same Kotaku story, various sources within the Redmond-based technology company have teased that Microsoft may be rethinking their product lineup in 2020. the company originally had plans to reveal a disc-less version of Scarlett, although those plans were eventually dropped in June this year. Now, it looks like Microsoft will be revisiting that idea, releasing an all-digital version of new console.
Competitor Sony has echoed similar similar plans, allegedly planning a PS5 Pro. And yes, Project xCloud, the service that would compete with Stadia, is still in the works.
