Oct 1(ABC): Google announced that it is completely shutting down Stadia, their game streaming service, in January 2023.
Stadia reached its end after it was first announced live at GDC 2019. The games collection will be accessible to subscribers until January 18 of the following year, when it will permanently close.
Phil Phil Harrison, Vice President and General Manager, Stadia, said, “We see clear opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts — as well as make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed.”
Google stated that other divisions of the corporation, including YouTube, Google Play, and its augmented reality (AR) initiatives, will use the technology that powers Stadia.
The team members working on Stadia will continue doing so elsewhere in the organization.
Users will receive refunds from Google for any purchases. The Stadia controller and any games and add-on material purchased from the Stadia shop will all be refunded to purchasers.
It’s anticipated that the reimbursements will be finished by mid-January 2023.
In addition to continuing to promote gaming in other contexts, Google announced it will assist game developers in creating and distributing gaming applications for Google Play and Google Play Games.
“We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest in new tools, technologies, and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers, and creators,” he added.