Given Google's abysmal history of supporting its software and hardware products, see e.g., the Nest fiasco from a few weeks ago, only a fool or someone with cash to waste would invest in a Google hardware device before it's proven popular by the market.
I completely understand the question. I think there's a couple of things I would answer to that. One is our commitment to this business is extraordinary. If you look at the list of games, and crucially, the list of game companies that are backing Stadia, you can see the level of interest and support. Google is committed to this for the long term, we have made very significant financial investments in this. And we have an incredibly dedicated team who is helping to make Stadia reality.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48525703
Words are cheap, though.
Words are very cheap.
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44901819
I can't see Google dropping it unless Apple abandons theirs first.
The hardware would be a weird thing to be worried about though. Chromecast won't be going anywhere, and the controller is still usable even if Stadia ceases to exist.
Even average the numbers from a site like gCemetery gives you > 5 years, and that number is already biased because it doesn't count the lifespan of products that are still alive.
Seems like a false equivalence "free skin on top of Gmail" != paid-for service like this one.