Google is ending Stadia and will refund hardware and software purchases

Google to shut down game streaming service Stadia. The company will fully refund all purchases of both hardware and software to players. The service will no longer be available from January next year and the Store will close immediately.

google writes in a blog post that it pulls the plug on the streaming service. Stadia would not have gotten the number of players that Google had hoped for. The company does not mention figures, but the number of players has lagged so far that the service stops altogether. This will happen on January 18, 2023. Until then, players can still play their purchased games. The Stadia Store will stop immediately. Gamers can no longer buy new games, but also no new add-ons.

Stadia users will get all the money they have invested in the service back. This includes all purchased games and add-ons as well as hardware, as long as they are purchased from the Google Store. The company calls in a faq that it concerns the controller, the Founders Edition and the Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch. Stadia Pro users will not receive a refund, but will be able to use that service for free until the end date. Google expects to have the refunds settled by the end of January next year. Players do not need to return their hardware to Google.

Google says the technology behind Stadia works well on a large scale. That is why the company sees opportunities to integrate this technology into other services such as YouTube, Play or augmented reality applications. The company has not yet provided details on this.

Google Stadia Party Stream