Stadia Thoughts
- If streamers will be able to direct traffic to games, then there will probably be a reciporical revenue stream for the streamers, which will make YouTube more attractive than Twitch, and there's no way Twitch can really compete with it. Also, if publishers receive revenue through Stadia, which they have to, right? Then the publishers will probably be paying high-end streamers to promote their games. Either way, it's a big win for high-end streamers. I don't know how it would play out for low or middle streamers. Presumably, you can stream through Stadia directly to YouTube, so it'll probably be easier to get started streaming, but it doesn't look good for Twitch.
- Stadia ignores the mobile market. I think the Switch shows that's a big mistake. I think that both Microsoft and Sony are going to employ some sort of mobile strategy in the next generation. I don't think that it's a coincidence that M$ is talking about "playing your games everywhere" and that Sony released an iOS remote play app right on the heels of axing the Vita. I don't think it's going to be a hardware solution, though. I think the hardware is already in everyone's pocket in the form of smartphones and tablets. I'd be willing to bet that at least Sony, if not M$ will use Android and iOS devices for remote play. Nintendo will do their usual misstep every other generation and release a Switch++ that won't sell well. It might swamp them, but they have enough exclusive IPs that they might be able to muddle through again.