Stadia reportedly had locked down an exclusive game from Kojima, then decided shortly after it began the early stages of development to cancel the project. According to 9To5Google, citing sources, Kojima’s game for Stadia would have been exclusive to the platform and it was to be a follow-up to 2019’s Death Stranding.
Death Stranding has grown to be a pretty popular title and let’s face it, it has Kojima’s name attached to it. Giving it some level of instant acclaim thanks to Kojima’s years of work on the Metal Gear Solid series. It wouldn’t be surprising if this was part of why Google signed on to grab this exclusive follow-up to Death Stranding for its fledgling cloud gaming service.
And if that game ever released, it feels like locking it down as a Stadia-exclusive would have been have a smart move. Unfortunately, that never came to pass.
Stadia turned down a Kojima game because it was a “strictly solo experience”
Many of Stadia’s games offer a social multiplayer experience. Which makes it seem like Google cared most about these types of games. 9To5Google reports that according to one of its sources, Stadia cancelled the Kojima game after finding out that it was meant to be a strictly solo experience. Because it was believed that there was no longer a market for single-player games.
The report notes that the game was also intended to be an episodic horror game. And that the final decision to cancel came from Stadia General Manager Phil Harrison. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean no one shared his opinion and agreed with the decision to cancel. Either way, this was a decision that could have helped Stadia if things went the other way. Then again, perhaps not.
The game was only in the early stages of development. And it probably would have been years before it was ready. Google has shown that it wasn’t willing to wait long enough for things to bloom. Instead, seemingly expecting an overnight turnaround on profits.
Soon Stadia will shut down for good. With Google confirming that it would officially be closing up shop on the service mid-January.
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