- Google announced that its game streaming service didn’t gain traction with users and will be shut down.
- Google will refund all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store.
- The underlying technology platform powering Stadia will be used elsewhere, such as YouTube, Google Play, and its Augmented Reality efforts.
Google is preparing to shut down its game streaming service, Stadia, which was launched in 2019. According to the official statement, the service didn’t gain the traction with users that Google expected, thus, the tech giant made the decision to wind down the Stadia streaming service.
Refunding purchases
Google stated that they are grateful to Stadia players and the company will refund all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store. Players will be able to access their games library and play through January 18, 2023. The refunding process is expected to be completed by the January of 2023.
Google also stated that the underlying technology platform powering Stadia will be used elsewhere, such as YouTube, Google Play, and its Augmented Reality efforts. Google will also make infrastructure available for its industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed. Google also claims that the company will continue to invest in new tools, technologies, and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers, and creators. Many of the Stadia team members will be moved to other projects. Google said,
« For many years, Google has invested across multiple aspects of the gaming industry. 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. »