MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Jack Buser, Google Stadia’s director for games, has left Stadia to join the company’s Cloud team.
The news comes via ZDnet, who reports that Buser has been promoted to director of global gaming solutions at Google Cloud, and begins his new role today.
Buser’s move reflects a change in strategy at Google, as it moves to focus on serving as a platform for third-party game publishers and developers, rather than producing its own titles.
“Google Cloud sees incredible momentum across all industries, and gaming is one of the key verticals we are investing in,” said a Google Cloud spokesperson to ZDNet.
“Jack’s hire illustrates Google Cloud’s continued investment into our global, customer-first gaming strategy, and his five years at Google will help open doors for broader strategic partnerships with customers across YouTube, Stadia, and more,” said VP of Industry Solutions Lori Mitchell-Keller in a statement. “Jack brings 20 years of experience within the industry as well as a unique blend of business and technical knowledge to further expand our ability to serve gaming customers.”
Despite a number of high-profile departures, Google maintains that Stadia is “alive and well,” saying that it is on track to meet its target of 100 games released on the platform in 2021.
In a bid to attract further third party developers, Stadia recently changed its policy to offer a 85/15 revenue split for game sales up to a $3m threshold.
