Following on from today’s official Stadia AMA it was revealed that Google will have a roadmap of features for the service that will highlight what it plans to add to it down the road. The roadmap of features will seemingly be available sometime after Google launches the Stadia service in November, which means consumers will finally get a better picture of all the stuff Stadia will offer and when those features listed on the roadmap will go live.
This is all according to Andrey Doronichev, Stadia’s Director of Product, who was hosting the AMA over on Reddit. To be clear, Doronichev never actually says when the roadmap will be available, so it is possible that it could come out before the service launches.
The most plausible time for Google to release a roadmap of features for Stadia would be during a Stadia Connect livestream. Google stated during the first one that there would be more to come, and that they would serve as the company’s means of announcing new things for the Stadia platform. During the AMA Doronichev was asked when the next Stadia Connect would be happening, and his response was simply, “sooner than you’d think.”
This could mean that there will be another Stadia Connect happening before the actual launch of the Stadia service, as the launch isn’t until November which is still a little under two and a half months away. This is keeping in mind that there could still be a Stadia Connect before the November launch and not hold any roadmap, with it being planned for an unveiling at a different Stadia Connect further in the future, if it’s going to be unveiled during a Stadia Connect at all.
The point is that Google does have a roadmap planned to showcase all of the features that it will be bringing to Stadia at some point or another. Consumers shouldn’t take this to mean that it will show off anything that hasn’t been set in stone. There are a handful of things that Google is working on with Stadia that it hasn’t yet confirmed will be released at any point for any number of reasons, and any features which it hasn’t confirmed will be going live aren’t going to be on a roadmap.
With that said, the fact that Google has laid out a plan for each of the features it wants to bring to the Stadia platform showcases it has a lot of stuff in the works and that it’s thinking pretty far ahead, meaning it definitely wants to see Stadia through for a long time. Doronichev seemed particular excited about the roadmap calling it “ridiculously awesome,” so it’s clear that the team has passion for games and wants Stadia to be around for the long haul.
There’s no mention of how much time the roadmap is supposed to cover but typically a roadmap for changes or features for a service or product are laid out for three to six months or the better part of a year. Bungie does this with Destiny 2 and puts out a roadmap of stuff to come for each season of content, which lasts for a three-month period. Google could be doing the same thing for Stadia in regards to timing, and if you’re still skeptical about Stadia then this roadmap may be just the thing to watch out for.