We are coming to the end of the book, the end of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. After much speculation and indications, Google has just confirmed the definitive closure of its video game streaming service, Stadia.
Through a press release, Phil Harrison, vice president and general manager of Google Stadia, confirmed that the service will be discontinued, because it was not as well received by users as the company expected. The last day that users will be able to access their library and play games via the cloud on their devices will be January 18, 2023.
To thank all the users who supported the project, Google will offer refunds to all users who purchased hardware through the Google Store, and games and add-ons that they purchased through the Stadia Store. Google expects to have completed the bulk of the refunds by mid-January 2023.
Harrison pointed out that the technology behind Stadia is effective, so the company will use it in other internal projects such as YouTube, Google Play and augmented reality, as well as licensing it to other commercial partners in the video game industry, so that they can take advantage of it. According to the executive, Google remains committed to the industry and will continue to see how to develop tools that boost it, and developers and creators.
“We are very grateful for the innovative work of the team and look forward to continuing to have an impact on gaming and other industries using the foundations of Stadia’s streaming technology,” Harrison concluded.
