[alaties]

While I agree with the sentiment of meeting the developers where they are, I'm pretty sure the upfront licensing costs of Windows would have made Stadia a non-starter. I also doubt Google could have gotten a decent bulk licensing deal for this use-case given Microsoft demonstrating interest in cloud gaming with the XBox Game Pass streaming features.

We also have to remember that even if the underlying tech was Windows, PC games implementing multiplayer can be locked to a single environment like Steam, Epic, GoG Galaxy, Windows Store and not offer cross-play amongst them.