Some smaller game developers aren’t sold on Google’s cloud streaming platform Stadia just quite yet, and, according to a report from Business Insider, a lack of incentives may be partially to blame.
Despite launching last November, the entire Stadia catalog currently consists of 28 titles. Although Google has promised to deliver an additional 120 releases this year, including plenty of heavy-hitters like Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Doom Eternal, right now the platform is looking a little lightweight.
In an attempt to understand why Google hasn’t looked to fill that void with some quality bite-sized titles, Business Insider spoke to a handful of smaller developers that have been approached by Google, and it seems like the tech giant has little to offer those game makers right now.
“We were approached by the Stadia team,” said one indie developer. “Usually with that kind of thing, they lead with some kind of offer that would give you an incentive to go with them. [But the incentive] was kind of non-existent. That’s the short of it.”
Of course, splashing the cash isn’t the only way to get folks invested in your platform. If you’ve got a certain amount of clout, they’ll often come to you. Right now, however, it seems like Google is lacking on both fronts, with other devs expressing skepticism at Stadia’s ability to build an audience and (perhaps as a result) its long-term prospects.
“There are platforms you want to be on because they have an audience and you want to reach that audience. That’s what Steam is, or that’s what [Nintendo] Switch is,” said one developer.
“If you could see yourself getting into a long term relationship with Google? But with Google’s history, I don’t even know if they’re working on Stadia in a year. That wouldn’t be something crazy that Google does. It’s within their track record,” added another.
To hear more from some of Google’s potential suitors, you can check out the full Business Insider article right here.