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It’s been a long time coming, but Stadia will finally be shut down in January 2023. The service failed to “get users in,” according to Phil Harrison, Stadia’s vice president and general manager. Amazingly, customers will receive full refunds for all Stadia hardware and software purchases.
We are not surprised by this news. The technology behind Stadia is incredible, and cloud gaming wouldn’t be popular today if Stadia never existed. But Google did a poor job of maintaining and selecting this service.
Stadia’s in-house game development ended in early 2021. And a year before that, Google couldn’t really take advantage of the cyberpunk 2077 launch: this game should have made Stadia a household name; It wasn’t playable on consoles, but it worked fine on Stadia.
“We 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 continue to have access to their game library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final game sessions.”
Regardless, Google expects to completely shut down Stadia on January 18, 2023. The service may survive a bit longer if Google misses this deadline. Starting today, you can no longer purchase games or downloadable content through Stadia.
The good news is that Google will refund all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store. It will also refund any games or DLC purchased on the Stadia service. Instructions for receiving your refund will be shared via Google’s help page at a later date. (Please note that Stadia Pro subscriptions are not eligible for a refund.)
It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Stadia. You had a lot of potential, but like most Google services, you were born into neglect. Oh good!
Source: Google
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