Tequila Works CEO Raul Rubio has been reflecting on Stadia’s launch. The developer released its third-person indie horror game Gylt in November of last year as a Stadia exclusive, but its appearance on the streaming platform was somewhat buried in the controversy surrounding Stadia’s wobbly launch problems and missing features.
Despite this, Rubio admits that Tequila Works – who are still best known for the likes of Deadlight and Rime – experienced the “smoothest production for a Tequila Works game ever” in working with Google. However, he does seem sympathetic to the backlash against Stadia during its debut.
“This is my personal opinion, but this is like the early days of Steam in a sense that this is when people were complaining that it took too long to download, and then the download would stop and people were (complaining) the price was exactly the same as a boxed game,” he told GIBiz.
“It’s going to get better. In fact, one day when we look back, people will wonder why people were questioning streaming at all. I’m not talking about Stadia specifically. I’m talking about streaming in general.”
Rubio was also asked if his personal expectations of Stadia’s performance had been met so far.
“My view is subjective of course, it cannot be objective because I have been inside, and I know there are many features that are super cool that are not active yet. So let’s have this conversation in one year I guess.
“People are totally right to be wary. It’s a new technology; historically streaming solutions didn’t work. I think it’s the time, in a sense, in that the technology is there and the audience is there, and to be honest the content wars are here… (Stadia) has a lot of potential, it hasn’t reached its full potential yet. I think that was never the idea with this small soft launch. I know that they are working to make it better every day. I know it’s going to get better, because there are a few features that are going to blow people’s minds.”
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