As Stadia continues to flail, Google seeks to slap a Band-Aid on their streaming platform. Their latest attempt is bringing on God of War producer Shannon Studstill, who has accepted a position at Stadia’s Playa Vista studio.
Studstill was a long-time Sony employee, most known for her work at Sony Santa Monica Studio. Now Google hopes that Studstill can replicate that same magic on the Stadia. Up until this point, the Stadia has failed to generate any steam since its limited release. That’s to say nothing of the several controversies regarding the streaming platform’s lack of promised features.
The Playa Vista studio is the second exclusive Stadia studio after the Montreal location opened up last October. Like the Montreal studio, Playa Vista hopes to provide the kind of content that drives gamers to the Stadia as the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X prepares to level the gaming landscape with their pending releases later this year. The inclusion of Studstill is a major pickup, and if he can put together a game that is even half as good as the latest God of War, then the Stadia may finally have something for gamers to talk about.
Though Google’s announcement ran down her accomplishments from her time at Sony, it did not disclose what projects she is attached to. As of right now, Gylt is the only exclusive title for the platform as Orcs Must Die 3 and Get Packed await release dates in the future. If the release is any indication of what to expect, Studstill is likely to oversee a brand-new project rather than tinker with the ones already nearing release.
It’s hard to say if this is the kind of move the Stadia needs. Many who invested early in the Stadia’s promise of gaming anywhere quickly felt the burn. The service’s bungled launch and Google’s repeated attempts to blame developers presented the console as a paid public beta for something Google would revisit down the line. A limited game catalog is also at fault for the Stadia’s ongoing struggle for relevance.
Considering the slew of AAA titles coming out in the next few months, Google will need more than one solid hit to stay on the radar. With hopes that the Stadia Base program can lure new gamers upon release later this year, there would be no better time to give the public a taste of what Google’s gaming wing is really capable of. With Studstill now in their employ, it should be something spectacular.
Source: Google
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