Google confirms it will shut down Stadia
Google will officially shut down its Stadia game streaming service next year, it’s announced.
In a statement published on Thursday, Stadia’s general manager Phil Harrison admitted that the service hadn’t gained the traction with users that it expected, since launching nearly three years ago.
Google 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, Harrison said.
Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023.
“For many years, Google has invested across multiple aspects of the gaming industry,” Harrison said. “We help developers build and distribute gaming apps on Google Play and Google Play Games.
“Gaming creators are reaching audiences around the world on YouTube through videos, live streaming and Shorts. And our cloud streaming technology delivers immersive gameplay at massive scale.
“A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. 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.”
According to Google, the underlying technology platform that powers Stadia will be used across other parts of the company like YouTube, Google Play, and its Augmented Reality (AR) efforts.
Earlier this year, a Business Insider report claimed Google had shifted the focus of its Stadia division largely to securing white-label deals with partners that include Peloton, Capcom, and Bungie, according to people familiar with the plan.
According to the publication, Google was in discussions
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