The tech giant “will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team [Stadia Games & Entertainment], beyond any near-term planned games,” vice-president Phil Harrison wrote in a blog post published Monday. Closing the Montreal and Los Angeles studios will affect 150 developers, a source told Kotaku. (The Logic, Kotaku)

Talking point: Google said it plans to keep adding third-party titles to Stadia, a game-streaming service. But as with on-demand video, content is crucial. Cutting the capacity to create its own franchises and keep them exclusive to its platform weakens Stadia as a competitor to long-popular console lines like Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation. It follows Amazon in struggling to establish itself in the nascent game-streaming business. However, Google now hopes to start licensing its technology to other game publishers. Jade Raymond is among those leaving the company; the Montreal-based executive joined from Electronic Arts, where she oversaw Star Wars games, and previously worked at Ubisoft, where her credits included Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell. In October 2019, she said the studios would focus on creating “games that wouldn’t be possible on any other platform.”