Google’s cloud-based game streaming service Stadia is shutting down.
“…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…” Phil Harrison, the man in-charge of Stadia at Google says in a blog post announcing the service’s impending demise.
Stadia will wind down in January 2023 with players being able to access their games catalogue and play through January 18th.
For their trouble, Google says that it will be issuing refunds to players for all hardware purchases made through the Google Store as well as all game and add-on content made through the Stadia store.
Months ago, Google had, through the Stadia account on Twitter, been forced to come out and refute claims making the rounds then that the service was shuttering. Looking back, the writing had been on the wall for some time.
Throughout its short-lived life, Stadia remained out of the reach of Kenyans with the service not officially available in the country and most (if not all) of the continent.
Stadia now joins Google’s rich graveyard of products and services it has discontinued over the years including notable ones like the famed Google Reader.
So, now, what’s next for Google in the cloud gaming industry now that it is just beginning to take off? That is surely the question on the lips of everyone right now but they are no ready answers from the internet giant.
“The underlying technology platform that powers Stadia has been proven at scale and transcends gaming. We see clear opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts — as well as make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed,” is the most we have from the company at this time.
Rest in peace, Stadia!
