Take-Two to continue support for Google Stadia despite tech shortcomings

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick shared his thoughts on Stadia in a talk at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, GameSpot reported. The executive, apparently, has not been impressed with the service.

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

Zelnick added that Stadia is not the “game-changer” that Google said it would be. The service, when it launched in November 2019, was missing several major features. When it rolled out, Stadia was plagued with poor PC performance, latency issues, and a limited library of games.

“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,” said Zelnick.

While Take-Two will not withdraw support for Stadia despite its faults, Zelnick apparently believes that Stadia’s better days are ahead of it.

“Over time I believe streaming will work… 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.”

Google Stadia Pro free trial

In April, Google Stadia Pro started offering a free two-month trial to try to capitalize on a market where people are urged to stay at home to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus. After the trial, continued access to Stadia Pro and a library of free games, which include PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Destiny 2: The Collection, and GRID, will cost $10 per month.

Stadia supports Take-Two’s Red Dead Redemption 2, one of the major titles in the service, in addition to Borderlands 3, Final Fantasy XV, Mortal Kombat 11, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, among others.