Grand Theft Auto V was recently removed from Nvidia’s GeForce NOW gaming service by its parent company Rockstar. This decision strongly points towards the possibility that another popular Rockstar franchise Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a Google Stadia gaming service exclusive. In fact, the recent announcement of Rockstar Games as an official Google Stadia launch publisher only makes the case stronger. However, there has been no official word from Rockstar regarding the games that will be released for Stadia, and gaming enthusiasts are contemplating that this could be the only explanation.
Streaming wars : The fight for exclusivity
Nvidia has stated that its gaming service GeForce NOW is all set to launch in a few months which will make it a direct archrival to Google’s next-gen Stadia gaming service. This could be a bold move forward in the direction of exclusivity in video games with gaming services, which would bring fierce competition amongst these services in terms of their exclusive titles. Moreover, exclusivity with Rockstar Games has been the talk of the town for quite a while ever since the rumor that GTA 6 will be a next-gen hardware exclusive title started doing the rounds on the Internet.
As of now, Rockstar is yet to announce the titles that it will release for Google Stadia on the launch day. GTA V’s discontinuity on GeForce NOW implies that it could possibly be released for Google Stadia. However, the contradictory aspect that lies here is if Rockstar is planning to re-release an old game, why would they keep the upcoming lineup a secret.
Gaming enthusiasts have been fiercely debating the implications of this move. While most users are arguing that the GTA V’s dismissal from GeForce NOW means exclusivity for Stadia, very few are still arguing that there could be some other implications to this. However, the general consensus is hatred ton Rockstar’s move towards exclusivity. In fact, GeForce Now has already lost other Rockstar games too, including GTA franchise’s GTA IV and Liberty City, along with the hit title Bully. The games aren’t even accessible by streaming on Steam and playing on the PC app for GFN. When you try to do that, you’ll face a statement from GFN that says “We are continuously adding new games and we’ve noted that you’re interested in this one.”
Google has also stated that it isn’t looking towards total exclusivity with video games on Stadia and that there will be games which can be accessed on other services too. However, with competition from a brand as big as Rockstar, that picture could change. The silver lining is that users may finally be able to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC.