- John Justice — Google Stadia’s Vice President and Head of Product — is no longer with Google.
- Google formally confirmed Justice’s departure after word leaked earlier today.
- This information represents more bad news for Stadia’s potential longevity.
Google made a huge deal out of its game streaming service when it launched as a beta in 2018, then known as Project Stream. Eventually, the company announced it as a formal product known as Stadia, with a monthly subscription fee, controller support, and even a dedicated studio for developing exclusive titles.
However, Google Stadia has been on shaky ground over the past few months. First, Google announced the closure of the aforementioned studio — a huge sign that things aren’t working as well as it hoped. There have also been multiple heavy discounts on Stadia hardware which were reminiscent of fire sales.
Related: Google Stadia: Everything you need to know
Today, The Information reported that Stadia’s Vice President and Head of Product John Justice had allegedly left Google. The company later confirmed this information to 9to5Google.
Justice — who Joined Google in 2019 — was in charge of the consumer-facing product experience at Stadia. He also made formal announcements about upcoming Stadia features and game launches.
It is not clear where Justice is headed now that he is no longer with the company. It also isn’t clear who will take over his former position on the Stadia team.
We expect there to be plenty of Stadia news at Google I/O 2021, which starts in just a few weeks. Hopefully, we’ll have a better grip on the stability of Stadia’s future then.
