Google is shutting down its Stadia games streaming service. According to the company, players will still have access to and play their games until January 18, 2023.
After that, Stadia will join the long list of Google-killed products and services. Google claims that the service did not acquire the momentum with consumers that it expected.
Stadia's rivals like the Xbox Game Pass, NVIDIA GeForce Now, and Amazon Luna will remain in the market as some of the popular cloud gaming services.
Those who have put money into Stadia will be refunded. In a blog post, Stadia vice president and general manager Phil Harrison stated, "We will be refunding all Stadia hardware sales made through the Google Store, as well as any game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store."
Because the Stadia shop is now closed, no new purchases can be made. Transactions in-game have also been blocked. Google claims that most reimbursements will be handled automatically, and that you would not be required to return most Stadia hardware.
In the meantime, Google will not repay Stadia Pro subscribers. If you have a current membership as of today, Google will not charge you for access to your game collection or other Pro benefits until Stadia is shut down.
Google publicly introduced Immersive Stream for Games, a version of Stadia that third parties may licence, back in March 2022.
It appears that the Stadia technology will carry on in other Google products as well. Many members of the Stadia team will continue to work for the firm. It's unclear whether the Stadia shutdown will result in any layoffs.
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