Google announces termination of Stadia streaming service in a blog postAll hardware and software purchases have been refunded, and anyone who purchased the game on the platform will be able to play and access it until January 18, 2023. After that, Google will no longer sell games on the platform.
“Several years ago, we also launched Stadia, a consumer gaming service,” wrote Phil Harrison, vice president and general manager of Stadia. “Also, his Stadia approach to consumer game streaming was built on a strong technical foundation, but it didn’t get the user acceptance he hoped it would, so he began to shut down the Stadia streaming service. I have made a difficult decision to do so.”
Further in the announcement, Harrison wrote that the tech that powers Stadia will live on for YouTube, Google Play, and anything else that can be cooked in augmented reality. He also said that “we remain deeply committed to gaming” and that the company will continue to invest in and build new tools. will move to another division of
Built on a custom AMD GPU, Stadia launched in 2019 to lukewarm reviews, but never really caught on. Google has made some efforts to create its own game, but has closed its in-house development studio and instead focused on a white-label version of his Stadia that can be used by partners. The departure of Stadia VP Jade Raymond has dealt a heavy blow to Google developing its own games. She then launched Haven Studio, a new studio acquired by Sony.
“It’s hard to justify paying $10 a month for this service as-is, plus $30-$60 games for that promised feature.” “The Google feature set that makes Stadia most compelling is still missing,” I added.
Features like instant streaming demos were added during Stadia’s lifecycle, but none of them breathed new life into the project.
Returning the funds Google used to purchase the software could soften the blow. Some potential users worried that by purchasing games on the early streaming service, they would lose their entire library if Google shut down the service. That’s coming, but at least Google is refunding those who bought the game. Competitor streaming services work differently. Nvidia’s GeForce Now uses games purchased on Steam or other supported services. Xbox Game Pass has a streaming model in several tiers, but works similarly to Netflix, with games on and off.
Google is We have published our full FAQ regarding Stadia’s closurefor refund details.
according to killbygoogle.com, Stadia will be the 274th project the company closed in January. (Assuming another project doesn’t beat it.)
