What you need to know
- Google Stadia is an upcoming game streaming service like Shadow.
- It's expected to launch in November.
- At a recent Stadia Connect event, the company implied Orcs Must Die 3 is an exclusive.
- It's only a timed exclusive and coming to other platforms.
Today, Google hosted another Stadia Connect event in which is revealed a number of games coming to the service down the line. While the majority of them were multiplatform titles that will be available on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One, it seemed like there was at least one exclusive announcement. The company made it seem like Orcs Must Die 3 (OMD3) was a platform exclusive, but a spokesperson representing developer Robot Entertainment said that it was only a timed exclusive.
Google's Shanna Prevé said that Orcs Must Die 3 is a "new exclusive game coming to Stadia."
In a recent post on Reddit, the developer's head, Patrick Hudson, said the following.
OMD3 is a timed exclusive on Stadia. The background on that decision: After shutting down OMDU, Robot had to downsize our studio. We resized and focused on making smaller games than an OMD game. We didn't know when or if we would get back to the OMD franchise. We met with Google to learn more about Stadia for our other projects. We discovered that the people at Google are big fans of OMD. That led to an exploration of what might be possible with an OMD game on Stadia. We both got excited about our ideas and decided to go after it. OMD3 would not be possible today without Google's support. They are behind the game in a big way. We've hired more developers to bring it to life. It's the OMD game that fans of the first two games have been wanting, and we're thrilled that we have the opportunity to make it. When OMD3 releases in Spring 2020, it will be a timed exclusive on Stadia. We'll say more about other platforms in the future.
It's unclear why Google made it sound like Orcs Must Die 3 was a true exclusive. It's most definitely going to hit PC, and possibly PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The exact platforms should be unveiled soon.
Google is receiving a lot of criticism for announcing old games or titles that will be on other platforms. In order for any gaming service to succeed, it needs to have exclusive games. So far, Google hasn't shown off any compelling experiences. Maybe that's why the company chose to confuse gamers when it comes to a cult classic franchise like Orcs Must Die.
