Google Shuttering Stadia

Breaking into the world of videogames is a hard endeavour to undertake. Many have tried, and many have failed. Google, with all its resources, looked to be a sure bet for success. The official launch of its cloud-based gaming service Stadia took place on 19th November 2019, and while there was hype for this new contender, it quickly fell away within the months after launch.

On the 29th of September 2022, just three years after launch, Phil Harrison, Vice President and General Manager of Google, made the following statement.

“A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. 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.”

To say that Stadia hadn't gained traction with users is a bit of an understatement. According to statista.com, active Xbox users for 2020 (the last time recorded) were roughly 100 million. PlayStation came in at 102 million as of June 2022. By comparison, Stadia is believed to have around two million active users within the last year. Unfortunately, we have no official source for this information and must rely on internet guesswork as Google does not publish their official numbers.

Stadia had a select list of games available to stream via your smart TV, tablet, or compatible phone. Their catalogue even included some heavy hitters such as Far Cry 6, Control, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and HITMAN (2016). At this point, Stadia and its services are still up and running but will be turned off for good on the 18th of January 2023. This should give Stadia players enough time to finish playing any games they have not yet completed. Phil Harrison also said the following in relation to refunds.

“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. — We expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023. We have more details for players on this process on our Help Center.”

With other more established gaming companies pushing their way into the cloud streaming arena, it is not a huge surprise to see Stadia finally fall. Love it or hate it, Stadia was clearly onto something with its streaming approach to gaming.

You can read Google's full statement on Stadia’s closure here.