Beyond somewhat weak example about Paula’s and Deans suddenly wanting to play Doom Eternal and can now in 4K glory (that last part is laughable) with Stadia there are other issues that make it more obvious why people have not got Stadia wrong. Let’s not ignore that unlike Stadia that 4K on consoles (next-gen or the X) or PCs is free (free forever mind you) not $10 a month. Nor does it require a need for a good and consistent internet connection.
Plus, this accessibility argument is wrong of why people have got Stadia wrong. Stadia accessibility is limited. How is it accessible when it is only on PCs, a selection of Chrome devices and one phone model? Accessibility is making it available to many devices as possible it one thing it really should matter mobile devices. And that part of the equation has been completely missing as Stadia is not about, mobile devices, but focused on supporting 4K capability (with mixed results) on a group that will quickly move on (and apparently has) the PC gamers. For most people that don’t have a PC that can’t run a game of any worth at 1080p (yes, most PC gamers don’t play at 4K) those same people aren’t going to invest in Stadia either. Stadia misses the mark because it isn’t supporting mobile of any note beyond its; Pixel phone. Maybe it is Stadia that has it all wrong. Stadia doesn’t need the looky-loos who invest for $10 for a single month to play 5 hours of Doom Eternal before the get bored and move on realizing that they rather play Animal Crossing. Stadia needs those PC gamers to invest and play Doom at 4K and the next game and the next game for month after month. The Paula’s and Deans seem more like Apple people. Maybe they should invest in Apple Arcade not Stadia.
Furthermore, this article talks about India and South Korea as important. Perhaps someone sure tell Stadia that. Both are regions Stadia isn’t supporting. Again, no phone support (how many people buy Pixel phones there?). And more importantly Googles overall lack of infrastructure is important in why they are not supporting certain regions. Sorry, but Google data centers are primarily clustered in the US. Over half of the regions Google support are in the US with rest mostly in Western Europe.
Microsoft seem to have it right. Mobile is going to be the way forward if streaming it is going have any real ability to catch on with the masses. And it will take the current games to invest and grow streaming to get the masses to join in not the rare Paula’s and Deans to invest short term. The winner will be the company that gets the momentum early on by giving options to play. Most users (of any service PSNow, xCloud, Nvidia) won’t buy into as service for just streaming only. That is why Stadia is a non-starter. Users will use streaming as an option to supplement those gaming platforms that they already have. The Paula’s and Deans and people like them if not willing to buy a console or PC are more likely the type that will spend $10 have access to stream a large content not $10 just for the right play 4K and must buy the content (even to play 1080p). More likely streaming Game Pass content not spending $70 for game and streaming it. Mobile also means focusing 720p, maybe 1080p over 4K. Maybe Microsoft has done its homework and read the novel while Google just read the fact riddled cliff notes. Because Microsoft seems to be getting this part down. They have supported South Korea day one in their beta. They have announced India is arriving soon. This is probably because Microsoft has over twice the region support that Google has (22 Google vs 54 Azure). Plus, xCloud already support over 11 mobile manufacturers and over 50 phone models. And that isn’t even taking into consideration the whole content argument.
