Google Stadia getting added to the graveyard of failed services
Almost three years after launching, Google said on Thursday that not only is it closing the Stadia game streaming service, it is also refunding all hardware and software purchases made for it.
Google Stadia exits beta on iOS
The announcement was made in a post on Thursday afternoon. In that post, Google's Vice President and General Manager of Stadia Phil Harrison said that the service will shut down for good on January 18, 2023.
"We're grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start. We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store," Harrison said. "Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final play sessions. We expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023."
Google said that the closure was because of a lack of "traction" with gamers and users that it expected.
In a FAQ about the closure, Google says that while games will be playable, they are expecting some problems. Specifically, games requiring in-app payments will be impacted. Additionally, game progress is likely to be completely lost, with the exception of some cross-platform games.
Refunds will ultimately be provided for hardware and software purchases made through the Google Store. Stadia Pro subscriptions are not eligible for refund, but will remain active through the January 18 shutdown date.
The company has not yet posted how to obtain a refund. Google says that most hardware is not required to be returned, but other than a brief list of what it doesn't want back, hasn't elaborated on what it does want returned.
Stadia first came to iOS and iPadOS in December 2020 in the form of a beta web app. It is far from the first product Google has killed, and not even the first one in 2022.
Read on AppleInsider
Google Stadia exits beta on iOS
The announcement was made in a post on Thursday afternoon. In that post, Google's Vice President and General Manager of Stadia Phil Harrison said that the service will shut down for good on January 18, 2023.
"We're grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start. We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store," Harrison said. "Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final play sessions. We expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023."
Google said that the closure was because of a lack of "traction" with gamers and users that it expected.
In a FAQ about the closure, Google says that while games will be playable, they are expecting some problems. Specifically, games requiring in-app payments will be impacted. Additionally, game progress is likely to be completely lost, with the exception of some cross-platform games.
Refunds will ultimately be provided for hardware and software purchases made through the Google Store. Stadia Pro subscriptions are not eligible for refund, but will remain active through the January 18 shutdown date.
The company has not yet posted how to obtain a refund. Google says that most hardware is not required to be returned, but other than a brief list of what it doesn't want back, hasn't elaborated on what it does want returned.
Stadia first came to iOS and iPadOS in December 2020 in the form of a beta web app. It is far from the first product Google has killed, and not even the first one in 2022.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Hope this isn't a sign of how our younger generation will run companies.
They shut down Google+ services in 2019.
I think Google Plus URLs resolve elsewhere just to prevent 404 errors.
The difference between GamePass and Stadia is that the games come with the subscription on GamePass - over a hundred of them at present and more added and rotated in and out all the time, including every title that their AAA game studios release. Google expected you to pay a monthly fee AND buy the games (other than a few bones they threw at you). GamePass is a good deal - you break even if you were going to buy two games a year that come with it. Stadia was a virtual game console that you had to pay for every month and got nothing else from.
In between the two is GeForce Now, which is literally a gaming PC you pay a monthly fee to stream, but you play the games you have already bought from Steam, Origin, and Ubisoft so if they ever shut down you at least still have your games to play on a PC elsewhere.
Google/alphabet is ridiculous and a laughingstock. Don’t invest yourself too heavily into Google services because they will kill off any initiative within 2 to 5 years. Visit “killedbygoogle.com“.
It's important to understand that Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Google all took different approaches in cloud game streaming.
Microsoft has content both as a studio and as a publisher due to its long experience with Xbox. Google had nothing and they really aren't a content company.
Meanwhile Microsoft acquired Bethesda/ZeniMax and is trying to acquire Activision-Blizzard. Microsoft made studio acquisitions primarily to prop up their portfolio to drive subscriptions to the Xbox Game Pass. The xCloud game streaming service is an add-on benefit to Game Pass subscribers and leveraged off Microsoft Azure datacenters.
Microsoft already knows how to run a successful gaming business. Same with Sony and Nintendo so those two will have a better chance of success at cloud game streaming when they tackle it head on. Nintendo has a few cloud titles available through Switch Online but they are taking a very cautious pace.
Non-gaming companies like Google and NVIDIA have a much steeper learning curve.
https://www.pcgamer.com/stadia-game-developers-had-no-idea-google-was-killing-stadia/
Google didn’t just screw some of its employees, it unapologetically screwed a bunch of third party developers.
Sure Google can offer displaced Stadia employees opportunities to work elsewhere in the company but employees working on Stadia games for developer partners are left out in the cold holding the bag.
Not cool Sundar, not cool at all.
You can argue that technology is important enough to need a more nimble approach, but you can also argue that a dollar spent on technology is a dollar not spent on patient care (or an endless number of other operational activities that are usually under-funded relative to demand). And there is a limit on the rate at which people can adapt to something new.