When Google showed that Madden clip at Stadia Connect on April 28th of 2020, I was excited. I picked up another controller and was getting everything geared up for Madden. Yet here we are a few weeks from the Superbowl and still no Madden. What are my thoughts?
Overall I have had a lukewarm attitude about Stadia. I do not think it is as bad as some of the critics are making it out to be. But I am no longer hyping it up as a solid gaming platform. I am ready to label it as good to have if you can pick it up for free, but not ready to tell people to jump on the bandwagon. And definitely not recommending the Pro subscription based services. Yes, I like that Stadia have been able to provide a gaming platform with little or no load, update, or download time. But the lack of being able to fulfill promises with features and games have made this another Google project with potential and poor execution.
Now that Madden has been all but present for Stadia, I find even less of a reason to pick up the controller. And for me it is not just that Madden is unavailable for Stadia. It is that Google continues to be slow with features and games and have been satisfied with that. For a gaming platform that is trying to prove themselves, they have not provided enough of a reason to keep people excited about the platform. And that is sad considering the potential that is there with this platform. Now there is a race to see if they will get out all of the features they promised when Stadia was debutted over a year ago before Google pulls the plug permanently.
To the Stadia people that says “Google is in this for the long haul”. I say, how long you think Google is going to pour money into a platform that no one cares about?
I am hoping I am wrong, considering I poured money into four of these Stadia devices (I gave 3 away). But all you have to do is look around at the number of people talking about Stadia versus the other gaming platforms to see where this is going. Especially when you continue to see the (already small) number of supporters continue to diminish by the day.
