Stadia, Google’s cloud gaming service, is being discontinued. Players will be able to use the service until January 18th, 2023. Google will reimburse any Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store and all Stadia games and add-on content. Google anticipates that mid-January will finish the reimbursements.
“A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia,” Stadia vice president and GM Phil Harrison said in a blog post.
“And while Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected, so we’ve decided to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.”
Employees from the Stadia team will be deployed all over the company in different parts.
A person is holding a controller to which a smartphone is attached. The phone is now engaged in a game from Stadia, Google’s cloud gaming service.
Google, according to Harrison, sees chances to adapt Stadia’s technology to other aspects of Google, such as YouTube, Google Play, and its AR projects, and the firm also aims to “make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed.”
In a FAQ, Google clarified some of the finer elements of the shutdown. For example, refunds will be sent automatically through the Google and Stadia shops, and you will not be required to return any gear.
You will not be charged during the closing period and can access any games you may have redeemed as a Pro user until everything is shut down, but Stadia Pro subscriptions will not be refunded. Google has shut down the Stadia store, so you can no longer purchase games or in-game items.
The signs were there for Stadia for a while, most notably when Logitech unveiled their new cloud gaming portable last week and left out one of the few cloud gaming companies, Stadia.
However, from its start, predictions of Stadia’s doom have followed. Stadia appeared to be a promising cloud gaming solution from a company with minimal affiliations with the gaming sector.