Google has announced that it will be shutting down its cloud gaming platform Stadia after just 2 years after it launched.
Google announced that it will refund all Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store, along with all the games and add-on content purchased from the Stadia store.
“And while Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” Stadia VP Phil Harrison wrote in a blog post.
“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. Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final play sessions.”
Many employees on the Stadia team will be reassigned to other roles within Google, the blog post noted.
He added that while Stadia is dying, the tech behind it will still be available to “industry partners” for other joint-ventures, like AT&T’s recent attempt to bring Batman: Arkham Knight to smartphones via streaming.
