Google has stated that it will discontinue its Stadia cloud gaming platform and issue refunds to users. When Stadia debuted in November 2019, it was hailed as “Netflix for games,” enabling users to stream games without owning a console.
But due to a lack of “traction” among gamers, the service will now stop on January 18, 2023.
Players who purchased the Stadia controller from Google as well as any games or add-on content will receive refunds.
It stated that it anticipates completing such returns by the middle of January.
Video from Stadia games is streamed to a TV or mobile device from servers at Google data centers located all over the world.
In a blog post, Stadia’s vice president and general manager Phil Harrison wrote: “A few years back, we also established Stadia, a consumer gaming service.
Although Stadia’s strategy for providing game streaming to consumers was based on a solid technological basis, it hasn’t been well received by users, therefore we’ve had to make the difficult choice to start winding down our Stadia streaming service.
When it comes to eliminating goods that don’t work out, Google is extremely merciless. Visit the website Killed by Google to get lost in a huge list of sadly discontinued Google brands—many of which you’ve probably never heard of.
2019 saw the highly publicized introduction of Stadia, which was unmistakably Google’s effort to corner the lucrative gaming business.
Stadia offered more than just game streaming; it also had custom hardware.
Even if you are big in your own right, competing with the gaming titans is difficult. Since their users have already spent money on consoles and subscriptions, and since the companies behind Xbox and PlayStation, Microsoft and Sony, have lucrative agreements in place with the biggest game publishers on the planet, it is challenging to mimic what Xbox and PlayStation do well.
Phil Harrison’s statement that Stadia hadn’t “gained the traction” that Google anticipated — marketing lingo for “not enough bums on seats” — may not come as a major surprise.
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