Google Stadia Exclusive Coming From Gears of War Multiplayer Developer

Splash Damage, the studio working on Gears Tactics and previously responsible for the co-development of Gears of War multiplayer modes, is working on a Google Stadia exclusive.

The studio confirmed that news via Twitter where they just stated that they are “excited to finally announce that we’re working with Google Stadia on an exclusive title.” They note on their website that they’ll be sharing more information in the coming months, but they sadly don’t share much more information beyond that.

In lieu of any official, additional information, let’s take a look at Splash Damage as well as Google Stadia to try to break down some possibilities and help explain why this is a notable arrangement.

We mentioned that Splash Damage is currently working on Gears Tactics and have previously worked on such collaborations as the multiplayer modes for titles like Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and the PC port of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Some of their own projects include ambitious (but ultimately failed) multiplayer titles like Brink and Dirty Bomb. They’ve actually made some great multiplayer modes and games over the years (and their PC ports are typically great) but, as we mentioned, they’ve struggled to make an entirely successful game under their own banner.

Based on their previous history, we can safely guess that Splash Damage’s Stadia exclusive will be a multiplayer action title. That idea is exciting enough on its own given that Splash Damage has proven that they know how to make compelling multiplayer titles, but what really intrigues us about that potential arrangement is that Stadia is not only getting more exclusives but that one of them may end up being a multiplayer action game.

That’s really the story here. It’s safe to say that Google Stadia hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. While we’re not going to dive into everything that’s wrong with the service right this moment, one of Google’s biggest struggles has been selling people on the idea that Stadia will eventually feature worthwhile exclusives and that the cloud subscription program can properly support multiplayer games.

If this arrangement works out, then Stadia could kill two birds with one stone. We’ve seen how everything from Call of Duty‘s Warzone mode to Fortnite‘s battle royale mode can drastically revitalize a game and inspire millions of people to start playing them on a daily basis. If Google Stadia lands a multiplayer hit, that could be a huge coup for the service.

We’ll bring you more on this project as additional information becomes available.