Yesterday’s Google presentation and announcement of Stadia – and all its attendant accoutrements – set the internet as well as our staff chattering about the implications. MMO players in particular have seen this whole “streamed gaming is the future!” stuff before, and it always goes nowhere… but hey, if anybody can do it, it’ll be Google, right?
We saw multiple MMO developers weigh in. Smed was stoked. Fairytale’s Alexander Zacherl homed in on the potential to end cheating and hacking. CSE’s Andrew Meggs quirked an eyebrow at Google’s insistence on calling streamers, rather than actual game devs, “creators.” Scott Hartsman expressed skepticism about potential business models. Our own team could see only negatives in things like Crowdplay – and streamers aren’t happy about it either. And what about MMORPG virtual worlds? What about modding? Privacy? Competitive gaming? Am I going to keep making that scrunchy face every time they randomly use the plural Latin word for stadium? There are a lot of questions we just don’t have answers for yet. Especially that Latin one.
So given what we do know, what do you think – will Google’s Stadia revolutionize gaming? Should Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo be nervous? Will this change the face of gaming at all, and if so, for the better? Or is this just another one of Google’s mad plans that will quietly dissipate and be canceled four years from now?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
