Case study: Google Stadia

Which should it be Stadia's product strategy?

Stadia caption with a controller

Context

The market

At the beginning of the year, Google released Stadia platform to compete against big players like Sony and Microsoft. They also saw the need to enter a market that has been growing over the past years. Only in the last year, it grew more than 3%, selling $120.1 billion, and expecting to grow another 4% this year.

If we look deeper into some of the data, we can see that VR industry as a whole is growing at a fast pace, with a market size of virtual reality hardware and software consumer projected to increase from $6.2 billion in 2019 to more than $16 billion by 2022.

XR revenue climbed 26%, meaning $6.2 billions in 2019 thanks to new headsets like the Oculus Quest. Standalone headsets accounted for 49% of VR shipments and brought VR gaming to a more mainstream audience than existing PC and console devices.

Although these numbers are high, we need to think that the current VR headsets generation lacks some aspects that act as a barrier for is global expansion.

Current constraints

With the release of PS5 and Xbox One by the end of the year, we expect to see both companies take control over this technology with new functionalities, better quality, and better immersion.

Stadia

In the last months, they are doing some aggressive campaigns in order to track new users on the platform by giving two months of free subscription and working with game companies to achieve the launch goal of 120 games by the end of the year.

Currently, statistics show that they are having on average 25.000 players per day in the flagship game Destiny 2, but these numbers are going down every day.

Destiny 2 players

After analyzing the situation, experts pointed out two major issues:

• Users are having difficulties to run games at 4k resolution or even some times at HD resolution.
• Users are facing game lack, creating frustration while playing, ending with they powering off the console

Product solution

To compete against the best, after analysing the future of the industry, Google needs to push harder not only on games but also on the gadgets; so why don’t we get all these inputs, all the experience Google has with their Daydream VR headset and transform it into one product, Gamedream, the next-gen gaming revolution.

The idea is to release a series of gadgets starting with a VR headset that could solve all the previous constraints.

Achievement

To accomplish all these goals I established 4 pillars that should be addressed if Stadia wants to succeed.

Design

It will solve three main problems:

1. Improve Daydream design with the user feedback gathered from all these years to make it more comfortable.
2. Cut some extra weight by getting rid of all cables and the extra space from the mobile.
3. Smaller by removing the space from the mobile and with the new motherboard (15% smaller).

Affordability

How can it be more affordable for all users?

With these 4 solutions:

1. New Stadia subscription for an extra $4/month that will include all the VR games catalog. With this, they can make the product cheaper by adding the cost to the subscription.
2. Mass production will drop the cost.
3. To avoid having a lot of stock in the warehouse due to mass production, Stadia will give distributors good prices to buy a big amount of products.
4. Cutting the size of the headset will need less material per unit, which will reduce the final price.

Multiplatform

How can it be used in every device? This is a big and important question because it involves current available technology.

1. The 5G and wifi chipsets will help connect without cables to the platform giving the best quality.
2. The latest Nvidia GPU chipset will provide the fastest VR experience.
3. The Stadia app has the ability to connect from any device

Stadia

How will this product help Stadia to have more users? I already mentioned some of them.

1. Partner with Rockstar and Riot Games to release exclusive VR games.
2. With the new VR subscription, the idea is to pump subscribers and compete against Sony and Microsoft.
3. A killing product to help Stadia raise sales again.

Customer journey

Customer persona 1

Customer persona 1

Customer Scenarios

1. As a gamer, I want to use my VR headset without using cables so that I don’t have to waste my time connecting them.
2. As a gamer, I want to use my VR headset on Stadia platform from any of the different devices; TV, tablet, or mobile so that I don’t have to buy three VR headsets.
3. As a gamer, I want any kind of controller to work with my VR headset so that I can have a fully immersive experience.
4. As a gamer, I want my VR headset to be comfortable enough so that I can wear it for a long period of time.

Customer persona 2

Customer persona 2

Customer Scenarios

1. As a tech geek, I want my VR headset to be light enough so that I can wear it anywhere I want.
2. As a tech geek, I want my VR headset to work without any lack so that I can have a real experience.
3. As a tech geek, I want my VR headset to work in each of my devices.

Opportunities

To understand if this product makes sense, we did the value proposition canvas to really understand which were the opportunities ahead.

Value proposition canvas

Value proposition canvas

Value proposition

An affordable wireless cross-platform VR headset powered by the last technology to have the best gaming experience

Risks

The risks of doing nothing, in this case, may have a negative impact on the company.

Competitors

Competitors

Customers

Customers

Casual users

Casual users

Knowledge

Knowledge

To finish the case study, I just want to point out that some assumptions have been made in the product solution section due to a lack of data about the current state of Google and Stadia platform.

We can all dream bigger and together build a playground for every imagination — Phil Harrison

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