Less than three years after launching its cloud gaming service Stadia, Google is shutting it down.
For many years, Google has invested across multiple aspects of the gaming industry. They help developers build and distribute gaming apps on Google Play and Google Play Games. Gaming creators are reaching audiences around the world on YouTube through videos, live streaming and Shorts. And their cloud streaming technology delivers immersive gameplay at massive scale.
Stadia launched in November 2019 as part of Google’s aggressive expansion into gaming. But on Thursday, the company said it had “made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.”
Users will have access to their games until January 18, 2023, and all hardware purchases made through the Google Store will be refunded, the company said. Company expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023.
Google said Stadia “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.”
Signs of trouble had been bubbling up. Last year, Google said it was closing its internal Stadia game studio in favor of helping game makers “take advantage of our platform technology and deliver games directly to their players.”
Company further see opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts. Many of the Stadia team members will be carrying their work forward in other parts of the company.
