When Google Stadia downsized its operations in 2021, several games fell victim to the decision. Some managed to survive and went on to find new homes. According to a new report, two of those ex-Stadia games were the recently-released The Quarry and the newly announced Xbox exclusive High on Life.
What could have been at Google Stadia
Google Stadia was originally intended to be a rival to Xbox and PlayStation, but it didn’t happen that way. Before a title developed by an internal studio had even been released on the cloud gaming service, Google shut down Stadia Games and Entertainment. Several planned games were canceled, such as Journey to the Savage Planet 2. It seems like others were more fortunate, though. According to a report from Axios, both The Quarry and High on Life were intended to be signature Stadia releases before the downsizing sent both games in a different direction. A signature Stadia release was intended to be an exclusive title designed to attract players to the platform.
Neither of the games have ever been confirmed to have been Stadia titles, although The Quarry’s developer Supermassive Games did announce a partnership with Google back in 2020. No details on that game have ever been revealed but Supermassive was left “looking for a publishing partner as [The Quarry] came to completion” according to its new publisher 2K Games. High on Life developer Squanch Games refused to comment on the report but this game was announced at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Show on June 12 as an Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One console launch exclusive. The game is also coming to PC.
In other news, four games will be leaving Xbox Game Pass at the end of this month, including Jurassic World Evolution. Elsewhere, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is now available for purchase on Steam with a discount for early buyers.
