Google has announced overnight that it will officially shut down and cease support of its cloud-streaming service Stadia next year.
Despite pretty respectable third-party support, the service simply never caught on with consumers and by Stadia general manager Phil Harrison’s own admission never gained the traction it had hoped for in the few years since launching.
As a part of the shuttering, Google will be refunding all hardware and software purchases made through the Google and Stadia storefronts respectively, though access will remain for current owners until January 18, 2023.
Despite the closure, Harrison claims Google will remain committed to their endeavours within the gaming industry:
“We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest in new tools, technologies and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers and creators,” Harrison’s statement continues.
“For the Stadia team, building and supporting Stadia from the ground up has been fueled by the same passion for games that our players have. Many of the Stadia team members will be carrying this work forward in other parts of the company.”
It was always an uphill battle given the fierce competition within the cloud-streaming space, with the likes of Xbox Game Pass and even GeForce Now enjoying market share.
