Thousands of developers have already applied to Google Stadia's partner program, indicating great success for the largely untested cloud gaming service, but at the same time, begging the question: "What do they see that the players don't?"
Youtuber Scodysk believes he has the answer. In a video uploaded yesterday titled "Google Stadia Will Change The Way Youtube Treats Gaming" Scodysk provides some rather compelling arguments that suggest developers are on board because they expect big changes in another one of Google's platforms: Youtube.
Google is vetting these some-4,000 applications very carefully. Google's technical account manager Sam Corcoran shared the news of the massive amount of submissions at Develop:Brightcon 2019 and had this to say to potential applicants:
"What I'd really recommend - and what is always well-received - is having a good think about the access the Stadia provides, which allows people to play across all these different endpoints and hopefully can widen the range of players that can engage with your game. Think about if that does anything particular for your game. If access from any device has an impact on the design of your game. And also, what new opportunities are out there thanks to that ease of access."
The access and enhanced ability to engage players may be a factor in why developers are excited about Stadia but, at least according to Scodysk, isn't what is driving indie devs to the new platform. That, he says, has everything to do with the relationship between gaming and Youtube.
In the video, Scodysk explains that Youtubers who make game content, like Pewdiepie, provide an incredible amount of exposure and advertising for games. When someone watches video game content, Youtube's algorithm recommends more and more gaming videos to the viewer, exposing them to more games. Youtube owes as much of its success to games like Minecraft as Minecraft owes its success to Youtube.
Despite this, video game content isn't treated the same way on Youtube as other types of content, sequestered in its own category, according to Scodysk, in the name of "brand safety."
Scodysk explains that because of the violence and adult themes present in many games, they are difficult to monetize because advertisers are hesitant to let their products be associated with them. Therefore, over the last several years less content is made that would expose the Youtube audience to new indie games because Youtuber's don't want to make videos that will get demonitized. But with Stadia on the horizon, that might all be about to change.
Now that Google has a financial stake in the success of individual video game titles, Scodysk believes that Youtube is going to promote gaming content like never before, and give content creators the green light to make video game content again.
We already know about Crowd Play and the baked-in streaming features of Stadia that prove Google is well aware of how important the relationship is between Youtube and gaming, and Scodysk believes these 4000 developers know it to. He suspects we'll start to see Let's Play videos with Stadia in the title popping up on Youtube as soon as Stadia launches in November.
It just makes sense, and if the technology works the way Google says it will, they have every reason to push Stadia with everything they've got, including Youtube.