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Google has announced that it is shutting down it cloud-based gaming service, Google Stadia after nearly three years of launch. Google said that players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023, so they can complete final play sessions. After this date, Google Stadia will join the long list of products, such as Google+, Google Currents, Google Hangouts, Google Auto, and Google Play Music among others, that have been killed by Google in the past. Also Read – Google is making shopping easier than ever with five major updates to Google Shopping
Google also said that it will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store. The company expects to complete majority of refunds by mid-January, 2023. Also Read – Search On 2022: Top features coming to Google Search
“We’re grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start,” Google Stadia’s Vice President and General Manager Phil Spencer wrote in a blog post. Also Read – Google Maps to get new updates to make it look like the real world
Sharing more details in a support page, Google clarified that while it may be possible for some games that support cross-progression play on other platforms, it won’t be possible for the majority of games available on Google’s platform. This means that all the progress you make in a game on Google Stadia will be inevitably lost, unless, of course, it is one of the few games that offer cross-platform support.
In its support page also said that it will be refunding Stadia hardware purchases including the Stadia Controller, Founders Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV packages that were made by players through the Google Store and software transactions (games and add-on purchases) through the Stadia store. However, Stadia Pro subscriptions will not eligible for refund. The company also said that players will be able to continue playing their games in Pro without further charges until the final wind down date.
“Players who held an active Stadia Pro subscription as of September 29, 2022 will not be charged for access to their Pro library or other subscription entitlements during the shut-down period,” the company wrote in its support page.
As far as the move for this decision is concerned, Google said that this move comes as its gaming service was unable to get the traction that it had hoped it would get. “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,” the company said.
It is worth noting that Google last year stopped internal game development for the gaming service. And now, it has finally decided to pull the plug on Google Stadia.
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