Given that Google Stadia is a relatively new gaming streaming service, it would be safe to say that it wouldn’t be able to compete with services like Xbox Cloud Gaming in terms of popularity. As a result, there were some rumours that Google would eventually shut down the service; however, this has now been confirmed in a recent announcement.
The End is Nigh for Google Stadia!
The service will no longer be available after January 18, 2023, according to Google Stadia Vice President Phil Harrison. Users will have until that date to use the service. The Stadia hardware (Stadia Controller, Founders Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV packages) purchased from the Google Store will also be eligible for refunds.
In addition, Stadia Store purchases of games and add-on content will also be reimbursed. By the middle of January, the entire process is anticipated to be finished. Refunds are not available for Stadia Pro subscriptions or purchases made from outside vendors.
This is not shocking because Stadia wasn’t really the preferred game streaming service among gamers. Google also acknowledged this. “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 made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” says Harrison in an announcement post.
However, three months have passed since Google denied rumours that it was killing Stadia, so the situation has changed! The tech giant closed its Stadia Game Development Studio last year.
The Stadia Store has also been shut down by Google, and new game purchases are no longer permitted. There will be no more pre-orders in the future. While Stadia users will still have a few months to play the games, Google anticipates some titles will have gameplay issues. For the majority of games, it is also possible to transfer game progress to another platform.
This does not, however, imply that Google will stop supporting gaming. It will keep utilising Stadia’s technology for its AR project as well as YouTube and Google Play Store. Additionally, will continue to offer the same services to third parties like AT&T through the recently announced Immersive Stream for Games.
We’re interested to see what Google has in store for the gaming industry going forward. We’ll let you know when there are any updates. Please let us know your thoughts on Google Stadia’s impending demise in the meantime.