Google Announces Stadia Shutdown Around 3 Years After Launch

comingsoon.net:

Google’s cloud streaming console is going to that big place in the sky. The technology giant announced that it is killing Google Stadia on January 18, 2023, rendering the platform completely useless.

Vice President and General Manager Phil Harrison announced the shutdown on Google’s blog, noting that Stadia hadn’t performed up to the company’s expectations. And since the platform depends entirely on servers being up, users won’t be able to access their games after Stadia dies. However, Google is giving out refunds for all Stadia hardware (which includes consoles and controllers) purchased on the Google Store and all games and DLC purchased through the Stadia store. Harrison said they expected the refunds to be done by mid-January 2023 and more details are in its Help Center.

The Help Center isn’t fully fleshed out yet, but does have more tidbits. Since most games don’t support cross-platform progression, it won’t be possible to transfer progress to other platforms. Pro subscriptions are not refundable, though, yet those subscribers will still have access to their Pro library titles. Refunds are not going to be through physical stores and users don’t have to send “most” hardware back in order to get money back. Those who paid with gift cards or defunct payment methods will be able to get a refund, but said users have to keep an eye on their inbox for a special email.

Harrison praised the core technology by saying Google saw clear opportunities to apply it to both deals with outside companies and other parts of the company like YouTube, Google Play, and its various augmented efforts. Google will also invest in new tools and technologies and remains “deeply committed to gaming.” Many of those on the Stadia team have also