Take-Two CEO says Google "overpromised" with Stadia tech

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has said that Google overpromised with the technology that powers the video game streaming service Google Stadia. 

Speaking at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, reported by GameSpot, Zelnick explained that Google’s promise of their powerful next-gen streaming technologies has only led to disappointment.

“The launch of Stadia has been slow,” Zelnick said at the conference. “I think there was some overpromising on what the technology could deliver and some consumer disappointment as a result.”

The Take-Two CEO continues to state that Google has presented their new gaming platform as a transformative experience with a sizable number of people ready to jump on board of Stadia’s streaming technologies. This is not the case.

“Anytime you broaden distribution you potentially broaden your audience, which is why we supported the release of Stadia with three titles initially and will continue to support high-quality streaming services as long as the business model makes sense,” Zelnick told the audience.

“The belief that streaming was going to be transformative was based on a view that there were loads of people who really had an interest in interactive entertainment, really wanted to pay for it, but just didn’t want to have a console. I’m not sure that turned out to be the case.”

https://youtu.be/Ry72b_fIKAk

Zelnick ended his talk with the belief that video game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and dedicated platforms like Google Stadia are opposites that don’t necessarily connect.

With Stadia launching exclusively for those who bought into its Stadia Pro subscription service last year, the service’s now free-to-access business model has lost a lot of the fire a launch period should have. It doesn’t help that Google Stadia is still not playable on a lot of mobile devices that they initially promised.

Despite their support of Google Stadia, Take-Two products have seen lowered visual clarity on Google’s streaming service when compared to the lower powered Xbox One X, most notably with Red Dead Redemption 2. We wonder if Take-Two will continue to support Stadia in the future.