This New Stadia Feature Has Everyone Stunned
Google Stadia has been slow to introduce some features gamers have come to expect from their consoles. The Stadia, which was built around cloud gaming, did not include a game sharing feature until well after the service went live. Many fans have been worried about the Stadia since Google's Phil Harrison announced that the company would be exploring different business models, essentially abandoning its original setup. At this point, gamers couldn't help but laugh at Google's latest Stadia announcement, which explained that Google Stadia now features a search function.
You might be thinking, "Wait, isn't Google.com one of the leading search platforms on the internet?" Yes, and before now, as pointed out by The Verge, players simply had to sift through the platform's 172 games without the aid of a search bar. Many gamers were absolutely blown away by this revelation, humorously criticizing the company for not implementing a search function sooner, especially considering the fact that company made its name by having an excellent search engine.
Twitter user @uwuCassidy said, "In Stadia's defense, there's only 4 people playing this so a search bar wasn't a priority." Despite the sick burns regarding Google Stadia's player base, many fans were pleased with the search bar — or at least pleased and angry at others' criticisms in equal measure. @Asim_Crash tweeted a gif of someone punching a wall, remarking that Stadia fans were too sensitive about naysayers of their chosen console.
However, some fans had meatier, more serious criticisms to share. One commenter on the Google Stadia blog stated that search should have been included in the UI from day one, especially considering the number of games Google brought to Stadia. Likewise, Twitter user @SKnight849 really put things in perspective: "It took them two years to add a search bar. Google. It took the company that has nearly replaced the word search due to the popularity of the search engine two years to add a search bar to one of their flagship products." @Xandersore had a related criticism, and felt that Google does not support services that aren't instant successes. "Either somehow Google Stadia blows up in the next few years or the service is gonna die by 2023," they tweeted.
Even though it's been around for a few years, the concept of cloud gaming still confuses some gamers, and hasn't completely caught on yet. Still, Google's decision to not include the most basic of features, a search bar, seems odd. One gamer might have said it best on Twitter: it was like someone at the Stadia team said, "GO DOWN THE HALL AND KNOCK ON THE GOOGLE DOOR, I THINK THEY HAVE SOMETHING YOU CAN USE!" Whether the Stadia team consulted the Google door or not, the search bar should be rolling out on Google Stadia over the course of this week.