We are almost two months out from the launch of Google Stadia and it still only has one true exclusive: Gylt. As I highlighted in my review, it was a very unusual exclusive and launch title for a cloud-based platform but a good game nonetheless. Still, Stadia remains a divisive platform due to a rough launch, isolating Gylt from many Tequila Works fans. Raul Rubio, the CEO of the indie developer behind the likes of RiME and Gylt, recently discussed the current status of Stadia and Tequila Works' relationship with Google in a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz. 

Interestingly, Rubio compares the current discourse surrounding Stadia to what was present with Valve's wildly popular storefront Steam in its early days. "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." Like Steam, Rubio believes that Stadia will improve and eventually win more people over. "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."

Despite this, he does believe that "people are totally right to be wary" as this is an unproven market and that reaching its full potential "was never the idea with this small soft launch." Still, he believes that reception towards streaming will get better over time and has good things to say about his studio's time working on Gylt with Google. "They have been a very good partner, and I only have very good words for the Stadia team. Most of them are coming from PlayStation, so maybe because they were familiar with the process, but they have been very hands-off. They haven't imposed anything...The whole thing about Google is that they have all this influx of data, all this analysis of user tests; most of the time it was facts, like where people were getting stuck in the game, rather than [artistic oversight]."

All eyes are on Google to prove that its fledgling platform can take off and find success in a busy year for gaming that will house the launch of four new consoles. Stadia Games and Entertainment has yet to go into immense detail about its 2020 plans, but DualShockers will keep you updated whenever they do.