Microsoft-Bethesda acquisition allegedly partially responsible for closing Stadia Studio

The historic acquisition of Microsoft-Bethesda was reportedly a factor in Google’s decision to close its Stadia game development studios. A Kotaku report says Google Stadia general manager Phil Harrison mentioned this as a factor during a question and answer session with the team following Google’s decision to close its two indoor game studios in Los Angeles and Montreal in the early February.

According to Kotaku sources, Harrison “specifically pointed to Microsoft’s buying spree and the planned acquisition of Bethesda Software later this year as one of the factors that made Google decide to close the book on the game’s original development.” Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Zenimax Media and Bethesda Softworks in September 2020, bringing successful franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Doom under its wing. It is not entirely clear what the connection between the acquisition and Stadia’s decision is, although it can be seen as an inability to compete in the market.

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Harrison reportedly mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and “the rising costs of game development” as other factors in the decision. The Kotaku report notes that the studio’s game developers were shocked by the decision to close the studios, since weeks earlier they had been praised by Harrison by email for the “great progress” made by the teams. Kotaku sources say this was “emblematic” of the mismanagement reported in Stadia’s studios before it closed.

Despite the closure of primary studios, Google recently announced that more than 100 third-party games would be added to its streaming service by the end of 2021.

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.