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Following several months of “will they, won’t they” tension, it seems that Google has finally confirmed the eventual demise of its Stadia cloud gaming platform. The news came by way of Google’s official blog, which gives a final timeline for Stadia’s remaining period of service.
More specifically, Stadia is set to be discontinued on January 18, 2023, just a little over three years from its initial launch back in November of 2019. Refunds will be given for most hardware purchases, as well as certain software purchases made through Stadia. As per Google’s statement:
“We’re grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start. 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. Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final play sessions. 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.”
The pending discontinuation of the service comes as somewhat of a surprise, given that upcoming titles were previously announced for the platform. On the other hand, one could argue that this move was foreseeable, given Google’s lack of significant promotion for the platform in recent times, compared to when Stadia first launched.
In any case, Stadia users and folks looking to secure their refunds should keep an eye on Google’s support pages for future developments on the situation.
Source: Google
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