Google announced that it is shutting down its game streaming service Stadia. The service will be permanently closed in January 002, 2023.
Google will refund all hardware and software purchases to the user. Anyone who purchases a Stadia controller will receive a refund, along with any games and add-ons purchased through the Stadia Store. Refunds are expected to be completed by mid-January 2023.
Google said it will use Stadia-enabled technology in other parts of the company, such as YouTube, Google Play and its augmented reality (AR) work. Members working at Stadia will continue their work elsewhere in the company.
Google Stadia launched in 2019 March and was immediately met with criticism from the industry due to Google’s tendency to shut down businesses that don’t take off right away. Many also criticized the games’ high cost, given that users don’t own them directly, and substandard libraries.
Despite Google’s announcement two years later that it would be shutting down its service, the service has been limping along first-party game studios and product heads have left the company.
Stadia’s writing has been on the wall ever since, and despite the company pretending everything is alright, it hasn’t shut down as recently as July. As we now know, this is simply not true.
Still, the demise of Stadia doesn’t necessarily mean the demise of cloud gaming as a whole, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon still exist dedicated to their services. It’s always a long-term investment for these companies, but it’s not something Google is known for.
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