Stephen Totilo/Axios: The Quarry (Supermassive) and High On Life (Squanch Games) were Stadia first party games before publisher's downsizing

[Uzupedro]

Google was involved in the creation of two notable video games in the spotlight this month, before the downsizing of its Stadia gaming operation sent those projects elsewhere, two sources familiar with their development tell Axios.

Why it matters: The games' Google connections help fill out a picture of what Stadia could have offered, if Google hadn't abandoned its ambitions in 2021 to create a gaming platform to rival PlayStation and Xbox.

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• The Quarry, developed by Supermassive and published by Take Two Interactive, was released on June 10 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
• High On Life, from Squanch Games and a team led by "Rick and Morty" co-creator Justin Roiland, was revealed during a Microsoft gaming showcase last week and is slated for an Xbox and PC release later this year.
• But Axios sources say both games were projects that previously were being made for Google and presented as signature Stadia releases, meant to draw players to the streaming service.
• Supermassive Games "was looking for a publishing partner as the project came to completion," a rep for Take Two said of The Quarry, noting the publisher was proud to help release the game.

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[criteriondog]

First party? Wouldn't that mean that they were owned studios by Google?

Wouldn't this just be exclusive third parties?

I think the title doesn't exactly match the tweet, but another L for Stadia.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Thank god for the downsizing, now I get to play these games I was excited for on platforms that I actually enjoy and can rely on.

 

[dex3108]

Google was involved in the creation of two notable video games in the spotlight this month, before the downsizing of its Stadia gaming operation sent those projects elsewhere, two sources familiar with their development tell Axios.

Why it matters: The games' Google connections help fill out a picture of what Stadia could have offered, if Google hadn't abandoned its ambitions in 2021 to create a gaming platform to rival PlayStation and Xbox.

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But Axios sources say both games were projects that previously were being made for Google and presented as signature Stadia releases, meant to draw players to the streaming service.
What they're saying: Reps for both games declined to directly answer Axios' questions about the games' Stadia roots.

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The Quarry, High On Life were previously planned for Google Stadia

Both games have found new homes

www.axios.com

 

[Deleted member 93062]

Damn, pretty solid gets for Google if they had gone through with it. Too bad they didn't have any commitment.

 

[gabegabe]

Good thing they both managed to find publishers to release their games and didn't had to cancel or anything. Looking forward to High on Life.

 

[Meg Cherry]

Fascinating. Combined with the fact that Hideo Kojima's XBox project was also allegedly a Stadia game that pivoted off the platform, it paints an interesting picture of what the exclusive library could have been.

If Google had waited to debut Stadia until those three games were ready to announce, maybe it's not as widely hated at launch?

 

[Zebesian-X]

They fucked up, The Quarry is a weapon and I would have pushed myself through cloud play to experience it

But I sure do prefer the final outcome of playing it native :)

 

[Lord Fanny]

Damn, pretty solid gets for Google if they had gone through with it. Too bad they didn't have any commitment.

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Bad for them, but good for me lol. I never would have bothered with either on Stadia probably

 

[Vinc]

First party? Wouldn't that mean that they were owned studios by Google?

Wouldn't this just be exclusive third parties?

I think the title doesn't exactly match the tweet, but another L for Stadia.

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Nah, exclusive third party would be published by another publisher but exclusive to one platform. These games were published by Google. Like Until Dawn was a Sony first party game developped by an independent studio.

 

[Sangral]

Thanks f'n god they didn't. What a waste that would have been.

 

[Lord Fanny]

First party? Wouldn't that mean that they were owned studios by Google?

Wouldn't this just be exclusive third parties?

I think the title doesn't exactly match the tweet, but another L for Stadia.

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Google would have owned the IP, but not the studio. Just like Sony with Until Dawn or Bloodborne for instance. That's what made it first party

 

[Pai Pai Master]

never would have played them then lol

 

[AAION]

i wonder if they had any weird stadia specific features that got canned

 

[criteriondog]

Nah, exclusive third party would be published by another publisher but exclusive to one platform. These games were published by Google. Like Until Dawn was a Sony first party game developped by an independent studio.

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Google would have owned the IP, but not the studio. Just like Sony with Until Dawn or Bloodborne for instance. That's what made it first party

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Ahh, makes sense.

Glad more people can play these, heard the quarry was good. Not sold on Roiland's games, but I'm sure fans will enjoy it.

Regardless, shows how "committed" google was to gaming.

 

[ToadPacShakur]

i wonder if they had any weird stadia specific features that got canned

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The ability to not be able to play the games on local hardware

 

[Bradbatross]

Stadia's only chance of succeeding was investing big bucks in creating a Game Pass like service. Having a handful of exclusive games was never going to be enough to propel Stadia to success.

 

[jroc74]

Well, that is something.

 

[boontobias]

New product not an instant success? Well scrap everything than

 

[Slayven]

The Quarry is a lowkey system seller and statement piece. Would have been amazing get

 

[illmatic22]

Stadia's loss is everyone else's gain I guess🤷‍♂️

 

[Dinjoralo]

Well, I'll thank god they dropped it, then. More games for PC.

 

[Starlatine]

Well i'm glad it didnt pan out then. Quarry and High on Life are interesting but not "i would get Stadia for that" interesting to me

 

[flaxknuckles]

Bullet dodged

 

[NinjaScooter]

First party? Wouldn't that mean that they were owned studios by Google?

Wouldn't this just be exclusive third parties?

I think the title doesn't exactly match the tweet, but another L for Stadia.

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No this implies that Stadia was going to publish both games and presumably make them Stadia exclusives. Whether the studios are owned by the publisher doesn't matter. Sony/MS/Nintendo all routinely publish first party titles from studios they don't own.

Looks like 2K eventually picked up The Quarry but not sure if Squanch just decided to self publish High On Life or if MS is picking that up for the Xbox version.

 

[ciddative]

i wonder if they had any weird stadia specific features that got canned

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Maybe the multiplayer was using that Stadia tech which is why the mp is now delayed while they rework it.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Good to hear The Quarry pivoted to platforms that people would actually play it on. It's the best thing Supermassive's made in a long time.

 

[litebrite]

Google would have owned the IP, but not the studio. Just like Sony with Until Dawn or Bloodborne for instance. That's what made it first party

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Owning the IP has nothing to do with it being first party.

Sony doesn't own the IP for Spider-man or Wolverine but their Insomniac Spider-Man games and upcoming Wolverine game is most definitely first party.

Likewise with MLB: The Show.

 

[SageShinigami]

Those are the exact sort of things that push a system. A few more games like that and they would've been a legitimate platform.

 

[Angie]

Saved me from have to buy The Quarry on Stadia

 

[Khanimus]

Phew. Would have been a gigantic waste.

Saving the Quarry for my partner's birthday next week - these are such enjoyable event games for us.

 

[Lowrys]

Thank fuck. Can't wait to play The Quarry. Interestingly they've been playing adverts for it on true crime podcasts I listen to.

 

[Drek]

Owning the IP has nothing to do with it being first party.

Sony doesn't own the IP for Spider-man or Wolverine but their Insomniac Spider-Man games and upcoming Wolverine game is most definitely first party.

Likewise with MLB: The Show.

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Sony does own the IP for MLB: The Show though. If Sony and MLB stopped their partnership and MLB licensed the rights to someone else that new partner can't make a game called MLB: The Show without buying the name from Sony.

They also likely own big chunks of the interpretations on both Spider-Man and Wolverine Insomniac has made/is making, just like how Sony owns the specific aspects of their Spider-Man movies created for those films. While Marvel owns "Spider-Man" they don't own Sony's "Spider-Man", but its mutually impossible for Sony to use those assets and created properties without a licensing agreement from Marvel for the core character.

 

[Bede-x]

I'm glad they're on other platforms instead, since I like having the option of owning and growing older with games.

 

[litebrite]

Sony does own the IP for MLB: The Show though. If Sony and MLB stopped their partnership and MLB licensed the rights to someone else that new partner can't make a game called MLB: The Show without buying the name from Sony.

They also likely own big chunks of the interpretations on both Spider-Man and Wolverine Insomniac has made/is making, just like how Sony owns the specific aspects of their Spider-Man movies created for those films. While Marvel owns "Spider-Man" they don't own Sony's "Spider-Man", but its mutually impossible for Sony to use those assets and created properties without a licensing agreement from Marvel for the core character.

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OK?

Once again, they don't own the IP to MLB, Spider-man, or Wolverine hence why they have to get licensing rights and these games will get delisted in the future once these licenses expire and Sony does not renew.

 

[NinjaScooter]

Sony does own the IP for MLB: The Show though. If Sony and MLB stopped their partnership and MLB licensed the rights to someone else that new partner can't make a game called MLB: The Show without buying the name from Sony.

They also likely own big chunks of the interpretations on both Spider-Man and Wolverine Insomniac has made/is making, just like how Sony owns the specific aspects of their Spider-Man movies created for those films. While Marvel owns "Spider-Man" they don't own Sony's "Spider-Man", but its mutually impossible for Sony to use those assets and created properties without a licensing agreement from Marvel for the core character.

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While you are correct, IP ownership has nothing to do with whether or not a game is first party.

 

[giancarlo123x]

What a blessing

 

[entrydenied]

Good thing they both managed to find publishers to release their games and didn't had to cancel or anything. Looking forward to High on Life.

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Yeah. Can't imagined what the financial loss will do to these studios.

 

[headspawn]

Lucked the fuck out, I would've subscribed to play that High On Life game, shit looks awesome.

The Xbox - Kojima game was started there as well, hopeful that ends up looking as good as those two games.

 

[TaySan]

Thank goodness or else I would have missed out on The Quarry and High on Life looks great.

 

[Billfisto]

I really enjoyed my time with the Quarry. It would have sucked if it was locked away on streaming, with all the dark screens and QuickTime events.

 

[SwampBastard]

I still can't believe how quickly Google bailed on their own studios. I honestly thought that with all the time and money they had dumped into the platform, they would have given it more than five minutes to gain a foothold, however small. They've got the best streaming tech by a country mile and I'm sad that they're basically letting it flounder.

 

[Zebesian-X]

Honestly between these two, Kojima, and Jade Raymond… they had some compelling pieces in place.

Just shows how tough it is to enter the video game space. Few companies seem willing to set the necessary billions on fire for years on end without any real guarantee of success lol

 

[SimplyComplex]

So did Google help fund The Quarry? 2K likely pitched in towards the end but that's interesting.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Are the already released Stadia games forever exclusive? There was some Steamworld game that looked cool there

 

[Helix]

talk about dodging a bullet

 

[Xiofire]

Are the already released Stadia games forever exclusive? There was some Steamworld game that looked cool there

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I think Gylt is? I might be wrong though

Edit: Sorry, misread, no idea if they're forever exclusive to Stadia.