There’s a new Stadia Games & Entertainment studio going up in Playa Vista. Which means there is now a fourth studio that Google has in mind for creating its own games.
Google confirmed the news this morning, announcing its plans for the new studio. The Playa Vista location is also one of a few including the first studio in Montreal, as well as planned locations in Tokyo and London.
At this point in time the Stadia Games & Entertainment studio in Playa Vista is just getting started. So there’s no games that players will be able to look forward to in the immediate future.
The Playa Vista studio will be led by Shannon Studstill
Just like Jade Raymond was a big pull for the head of Stadia Games & Entertainment, Shannon Studstill is a big pull for lead of this particular studio in Playa Vista.
Prior to coming over to the Stadia team, Studstill was head of Sony’s Santa Monica Studios. That studio is responsible for some of PlayStation’s greatest games, like the most recent God Of War for example.
Because Studstill will now be leading the teams at this location, there’s a very good chance for some excellent work to come out of it. As mentioned though Stadia has no information to share at this time about game specifics.
What is does share is what its vision is for the studio, and it should get Stadia members excited.
This location will focus on exclusive games
This is one of the locations that will be focusing heavily on exclusive game titles. That means games which are only available on Stadia and nowhere else.
It won’t just focus on creating new IP though. It’s also looking to implement new game mechanics to play these games. As well as entirely new experiences. While the Playa Vista studio may not create the next God Of War in terms of success, the studio is in good hands and there’s a good chance for some exciting stuff.
It’s also mentioned that the studio will play a big role in exploring unique interaction models for future games on the Stadia platform. Raymond doesn’t go into specifics on this either. But whatever the company is working on could lead to games that have you interacting in ways beyond the standard controller or keyboard & mouse combos.
As for more immediate Stadia stuff, the Serious Sam Collection just arrived this week and DOOM Eternal is set to arrive on March 20. Meanwhile The Division 2 is supposed to launch on March 17.