Google Shuts Down Its Stadia Games & Entertainment, Including Montreal Studio

February 3, 2021

Google has announced that it is shutting down its internal game development studios, Stadia Games & Entertainment.

The closure will mean SG&E's studios in Montreal and Los Angeles will be closed.

Stadia GM and vice president Phil Harrison announced the closure on February 1 on Google's Stadia blog.

"Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially," Harrison said. "Given our focus on building on the proven technology of Stadia as well as deepening our business partnerships, we’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games."

SG&E vice president Jade Raymond is leaving Google, Harrison confirmed in the blog. The closure means that "most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles." A report suggests that around 150 developers' jobs will be affected.

Google affirmed that Stadia gamers will be able to continue playing on Stadia and Stadia Pro, with a focus on new third-party titles on the platform. 

Stadia Games and Entertainment had begun in 2019 with the aim of creating games and investing in building new gaming content from the ground up. Instead, Google will focus on growing the Stadia platform through third-party content. No further content will be developed beyond near-term games already planned and in process, said the company.

SOURCE: Google