In a new class action lawsuit, Google is being sued for announcing that Stadia was more powerful than Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox for streaming in 4K when, in fact, few games took advantage of this quality when the service was made available by first time. Instead, most games at launch were streamed at 1080p. Despite this, Stadia’s management and marketing teams did nothing to update their campaign to reflect this. The lawsuit claims that Google “greatly exaggerated the quality of the streaming and the resolution of the screen” and sought to increase its number of subscribers in this way.
While Google provided developers with the ability to deliver their games in 4K quality and at 60 frames per second to consumers, many did not take advantage of this at launch. Basically, it is possible that many players bought Stadia with the promise of streaming 4K games with competitive console quality and instead received something less than advertised. Marketing basically tricked consumers into thinking that all of their games were available in 4K – oops!
If you want to see the original Google ad, you can watch it below. In addition to being completely stupid and boring, these commercials constantly hammered 4K and 60 FPS, and that Stadia is basically like… “electric air”. Instead, they should have emphasized the fact that players can play anywhere and on the hardware they already have. After learning the hard way that their target market was not radical gamers, they finally changed their minds and started using this marketing, but not before the courts got involved and this process came up, I think.
What is Stadia?
Stadia is just the newest, most challenging logic, mind-boggling and absurd game platform in the world!
It’s basically “electric air”
The suit, if it is for the courts, aims to cover all people in the United States who purchased Stadia Founder’s Edition, Premier Edition and / or a subscription to Stadia Pro between June 6, 2019 and the date the suit is resolved. There is currently no value per user linked to classaction.org coverage on this, but litigation like this takes time, so keep an eye on the news. So far, you will not need to “join” the action to receive compensation if you are part of the affected group.
Stadia leadership decisions
You know, I love Stadia conceptually and as a service, but Google seems to be doing everything in its power to end up on the news every week for something else. It’s a shame that the hard-working and passionate team of developers at Stadia is doing everything in their power to make the service world-class and revolutionary, while the leadership team consistently makes decisions that negatively impact everyone around them.
I have no idea what’s going on at Google this year, but I’m starting to see a pattern – they create an amazing team of talented and creative people who want to bring an idea to life and then hire someone for the leadership that destroys it whole. I know it may seem a little rough, but it’s true. These individuals appear to have a poor track record in the sector or simply have no contact with the community they serve in general. How did this happen?
I want to make it clear that individuals like Grace “GracefromGoogle” Yang and others have publicly expressed their dismay at unjustified hatred and personal attacks when, instead, players’ anger should be directed towards those at the top who are oblivious to the rhythm and culture of the community. of games that she and her team worked hard at every step to capture and cultivate. Seriously, the Stadia community team exhibits the best customer service and the greatest passion I have ever seen in my life and the product they built is incredible, but it is being overshadowed by the company’s bad leadership decisions.
I mean, they hired Phil Harrison, general manager of Google, as the product manager for the platform. Unfortunately, he left Sony and Microsoft among several other jobs less than three years apart. He may have been directly responsible for closing the original development studios out of fear in response to Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. He or his leadership team also mismanaged resources and individuals before and during the pandemic – so much so that they told everyone on the Games and Entertainment team at Stadia that they were doing a great job in an email a week before dismissing them, knowing that Google would not have suitable positions for game developers. I just don’t understand.
I just hope that, whatever the process, Google will learn a lesson. Care more about your public image than your wallet and care more about your people than your public image – both users and developers. Improving lives must go beyond providing an innovative product, it must mean putting your ethics above your desire for money first.
Grace and her team, as well as those who were displaced with little or no notice when SG&E closed, should receive the compensation they so deserve – perhaps through a second process. It is disheartening to see how many people took their lives and gave everything for the cause just to be unemployed or in a position they probably would not care. It is absurd that the remaining developers continue to swim against the current of internal conflict, yielding more than 100% and still continue to do so with a smile, because they are incredible people. As all of this happens weekly, they just want to create something transformative and fun for players who can enjoy it, and even for those who are consumed by the stray glass.
As a Google fanboy and addicted to Stadia, it hurts to say that, but maybe it would be better for everyone if Stadia was owned by a company other than Google. He deserves his own identity, in addition to the damaged reputation for which Google became known and, more than anything, I hope he will continue to serve his fans and provide an innovative experience.
