In early February, we were shocked when Google announced the end of its efforts to run internal game development studios and, it seems, the developers were equally surprised. A few days before the public announcement, Stadia general manager Phil Harrison sent a mass email to employees at Stadia Games & Entertainment (SG&E), praising them for the “great progress” so far.
A report of Kotaku today sheds light on an internal email sent by Harrison the week before the closure of Stadia Games & Entertainment. In the email, Harrison praised the “great progress” made by the SG&E studios so far, saying that Google would confirm the “SG&E investment envelope soon”, which would inform the strategy and goals for the division in 2021. The email said in part:
[Stadia Games and Entertainment] made great progress by building a diverse and talented team and establishing a strong line of games exclusive to Stadia. We will confirm the SG&E investment envelope soon, which, in turn, will inform the SG&E and 2021 strategy [objectives and key results].
To make matters worse, Harrison apparently admitted later (three days after the public disclosure) that he was aware of the impending closure of the studios at the time of sending this email. Apparently, SG&E employees only learned of the studio closing at about the same time as the public. Looking back in retrospect, a slightly distressing tweet of a Creative Director at SG&E that day seems to confirm this detail.
Perhaps the most frustrating detail in this report is the impact that the closure is having on the more than 150 developers that Google has hired for SG&E. Apparently, a source said “we had guarantees for several years and now we don’t”. Google previously mentioned that it would find new positions for employees displaced elsewhere in the company, but apparently the company is struggling to do so, because the hired employees have specialized skill sets that other positions cannot take advantage of. Google’s poor management of the situation doesn’t stop there either, as the sources also said that employees were greeted with a “serious lack of resources”, including difficulty obtaining the necessary hardware and software and the company no longer employing people, despite their high goals. This hiring freeze was reported in April.
In a call on February 4, there was a question and answer session between Harrison and Stadia employees that was described by one person as “an unsuccessful attempt to extract some form of responsibility from the management of Stadia”. Although Harrison did not provide the answers that some hoped about why the studio was closed so early, he specifically pointed to Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethseda as one of the many factors that led to Google’s decision. Another factor was, apparently, COVID-19, which is surprising, considering how the pandemic boosted the gaming industry, despite having some negative effects on development (delays, etc.).
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