News Stadia is shutting down

[Bufbaf]

So yeah. Apparently that's it then. Barely days since they rolled out a new UI, Google is sunsetting Stadia and it's entire service officially.

Google is shutting down Stadia

Google’s cloud gaming service launched three years ago.

www.theverge.com

All previous purchases (unsure about the Pro subscription) will be refunded, according to Google.
EDIT: Pro sub will NOT be refunded.

Stadia Pro subscriptions are not eligible for refund, however you will be able to continue playing your games in Pro without further charges until the final wind down date.

Not much else to say except "Google was right" with their launch setup:

 

[kio]

Lasted more than I thought tbh

 

[MomoVideo]

Shitty situation all around, but at least props to Google for refunding all purchases since release.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

I'm not surprised at all.

 

[C-Dub]

Hopefully they release a controller update to enable Bluetooth. Would be a shame to see them all become landfill.

Should’ve bought one honestly. Thought it’d be a waste of money however. A shame because Google would’ve refunded me!

 

[STHX]

 

[ExistentialThought]

To give the absolutely fairest send-off of Stadia. I know some folks either cannot afford gaming hardware or do not have the time/energy/space to dedicate to it and for those folks, maybe a cloud service like Stadia might allow them to play titles they otherwise would not be able to. For those folks, I am sure it sucks.

That said, I do not think anyone saw this going any other way from a Google-lead product or service. Google does not have many meaningful strategies when they venture too far out of the industries they already dominate, all they do is hurt the industries they enter by gobbling up resources and talented folks to lead their own Google initiatives and kill off the product or service off at first blush, often leaving behind skepticism and doubt that industry is not viable since, "Well, Google failed at it so what chance does anyone else have."

For cloud based gaming, on the one hand I want more folks who might not otherwise be able to play, to have the chance to play the latest and greatest titles, but I also think this needs to make more folks demand customer rights for digital goods they have purchased. The biggest issue I had with Stadia is demonstrated by the fact that its closure means folks libraries go with it (refund or not, since one can easily imagine delisted games going poof even if a customer is refunded its purchase price).

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I actually liked Stadia because it had great technology and was a good way to get Ubisoft games without having to use their launcher or EGS. I'll probably get around $200 refund in the next few months.