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Google Stadia might shut down in a few days, but that won’t stop Google from releasing one last game for the ill-fated streaming device.
Worm Game, now available to play on Google Stadia, will be very familiar to anyone who owned a phone in the early 2000s. It’s essentially Snake, albeit with some modern embellishments thrown in, like colorful visuals and multiple game modes.
If you’ve kept your Google Stadia subscription to the bitter end, you can try Worm Game by going to its Stadia page (opens in new tab). You can even try it for free for three hours with the Google Stadia trial.
You may have seen one last game appear on Stadia today. It’s a humble 🧡 thank you 💜 for playing our team. Find it here: https://t.co/PyAUH181v1January 13, 2023
Don’t be too quick to think that Google released a Snake clone as a joke, though. Worm Game’s store page explains that the game was used to test many of Google Stadia’s features, from its launch in 2019 to its imminent demise.
And as Snake-likes go, Worm Game is certainly a mite more involved than what you’d fire up on your Nokia 3310 on those long car journeys to Wales. It’s not much to write home about, but at least it’s an important footnote in Google Stadia’s brief history.
A fitting ending?
The closure of Google Stadia on January 18 is not surprising. An eccentric subscription model coupled with inconsistent streaming quality led to the device sitting lukewarm with all but the most ardent proponents.
However, Stadia was not completely without wins. I’m a huge fan of Google Stadia’s excellent controller, and now that Google has finally confirmed Bluetooth support, the pad has at least got a second life. At least for players who want to continue using it wirelessly on PC and, hopefully, devices and consoles beyond.
Unfortunately for Google, a handful of other streaming services like GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming have offered more compelling game libraries with better quality streaming. As a result, Stadia was never able to find a large and dedicated audience on PC, mobile and console.
The streaming service itself isn’t exactly going out with a bang, but I certainly wouldn’t argue a whimper, as evidenced by the release of Worm Game. It’s a game that’s clearly important to Google Stadia’s development, however primitive and basic.
Whether or not Google decides to finally throw its hat back into the game streaming ring remains to be seen. But if so, the tech giant would do well to learn from the shortcomings of its first experiment.