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What today’s message about Stadia means for players

StadiaTeam
Stadia Employee
Stadia Employee
165 423 36.4K

Stadia players, you may already have seen the message shared on Google’s main blog just now. This is a short recap of the most important information for players from the main post:    

 

  • You will continue to have access to your games library through January 18, 2023 so you can complete final play sessions and move your progress to alternate platforms where possible.

  • Commerce functionality (the ability to buy games, new subscriptions, add-ons or in-game purchases) on Stadia has now been disabled.

  • Google will offer a full refund of all Stadia hardware purchases (Stadia Controller, Stadia Founder’s Edition, Stadia Premiere Edition, or Play and Watch with Google TV Package) made in the Google Store and all purchases of games and in-game transactions made in the Stadia Store. 

  • The refund process will take us some time to complete, and we expect to have the majority of refunds completed by the middle of January 2023. Please allow us until this time before contacting our support team regarding the status of your refund(s).

  • Stadia Pro subscription payments will not be eligible for refund, but if you are an active subscriber, you will continue to have access to your library without charge during the shut-down period.

 

As we begin the work of processing refunds to customers, Stadia customer service agents will not be able to provide more information to you at this time. For information and updates, please review the information on our Help Center, which will include new information as it becomes available. We’ll also contact players directly via email shortly with more information.

 

We want to thank you for taking this journey with us: in particular, the Founders and fans who have been with us from the beginning. The Stadia team poured the same passion for games into our work building and supporting Stadia as you have shown us each day in your play. 

 

Posted by Stadia Team

423 Comments
xgudwilx
Founder
Founder

"A message about Stadia and our long term streaming strategy."

 

WOOHOOO:exclamation_mark::exclamation_mark::exclamation_mark::exclamation_mark::exclamation_mark:

FINALLY...(beta period over)

 

YOUTUBE GAMING HERE WE COME!

 

"Gaming creators are reaching audiences around the world on YouTube through videos, live streaming and Shorts. And our cloud streaming technology delivers immersive gameplay at massive scale."

 

 "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."

 

 "We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest… Many of the Stadia team members will be carrying this work forward in other parts of the company and we look forward to continuing to have an impact across gaming and other industries using the foundational Stadia streaming technology."

 

 ~P.H.

 

WatchingLeader
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

This happens if you dont make proper marketing like commercials everywhere. All the haters buried stadia from the beginning, but google doesnt care. It is normal that a gamer that wants to decide try stadia will to the end leave his fingers from that.

This all dont matter now. Now Google has to kill stadia for sure, because how can you trust them if they dont do it now. No one will be trust them again.

I want now only my money back like they promised and switch to another service (not from Google). I even wil consider to switch to Apple.

Google is the only company i know that is given up sp easily to its products. Why to spend hard working money to them?

DrCarlosToscano
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

NOPE

This is a BAD move.

Despite every time when Google has announced that whatever product was going to be discontinued, we trusted you and we trusted the infrastructure with Stadia. I guess this is due to some enlighten as*h*les that have made some profit calculations and have decided to stop the project. Yeah, I hope that these data analysts will take into account the cost of their decision when we decide if it's or isn't worth purchasing a Fitbit Pro subscription, now that belongs to Google. How about purchasing the next Google Watch? Is Google committed to their products? Nah... better buying another brand, right? Have all the brilliant analysts haken THIS into account? Another service that closes... Just imagine all the "specialised media" showing their doubts about the next product/service release. Now they have more reasons to claim a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Honestly, what a shame...

toucemouse13
Founder
Founder

Great job pioneering into the void of space in the cloud gaming sector. You truly paved the way for the industry and for your competitions - which I hear is doing quite favorably, albeit not without your hard work, perseverance, and bold stance behind it. Think not of this as a failure, but as an experience. You are all better for it. I will honestly be proud to own a Stadia controller because of the impact it has had, even when it doesn’t work after shutdown

Munki78
Founder
Founder

Google, with regards to the hardware, please do not avoid your WEEE compliance obligations as a manufacturer and distributor of electronic equipment to behave responsibly with regards to their disposal.

I'd also like to vote (like many others) for Google considering spending a bit of dev time to make controllers work with Bluetooth so they can be repurposed and used as more than just wired HID controllers, provided there's no technical limitation in doing so. Don't get me wrong, HID is still at least something, but lets not miss this opportunity to repurpose them before people start throwing them away. I hate the thought of potentially millions of these devices being thrown away and ending up in landfill. Also, there must be some remaining store stock that's just going to get thrown away. It would make sense to pay a few developers a small amount to get these more broadly usable, as they are good controllers. Then people can use them, sell them on ebay, or give them to friends/relatives who have consoles that can make use of them. They could possibly even sell off the remaining stock cheaply as general use controllers, but at the very least they should be providing free post options to send them to regional recycling centres, where they can be recycled.

 

dreamdata
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I'm sorry 3 years that's it nothing else everybody says it's been a great ride and I think that's kind of tapping out you started a business or concept that you quit what you found something else to make better money I think this is ridiculous. I don't have a big library but I do like the games that I have so I don't get to keep them now right that's it steady is solved my Xbox issue so I guess I have no recourse but just to be happy with my refund whatever I'm sorry I can't get over this this sucks. no it hasn't been a great ride!!!!!!! 

friday13
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

if you knew how many guys played through vpn in countries where stadia never reached. It's painful and sad because stadia was ahead of its time as the most promising and affordable way to play your favorite games.

sjhw
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

It feels like a good friend has died. I'll miss you. :disappointed_face:

atomsymbol
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Stadia's cloud hardware (GPUs, but maybe also CPUs) has noticeably worse performance and lower resolution than GeForce Now, making Stadia less competitive. The bifurcation point might have been whether to upgrade Stadia's hardware to match GeForce Now or whether to shut down Stadia. After computing the potential cost of all the hardware upgrades needed, shutting Stadia down might have turned out to be the only logical option.

jediforce77
Founder
Founder

To all founders with not a month not payment missed for are PRO membership We are losing so much. Nothing personal But i believe google should do something special for the the people who went out of the way in the good and the bad to pay and promote and stay with there services. I simple refund on games and hardware is kind of an insult for the founders that kept the hope alive for the service. My son and I will truly miss the service. With alll the choice for claimed games that we will  lose after being a pro customer from DAY 1. Sorry but not acknowledging us as founder with uninterrupted service is a true insult in emerging technologies. 

SQUiDzzz
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Just say it ain't so!

Man oh man, so many thingzzz running through my head. But really just glad I met all the amazing Stadianzzz and just can never be grateful enough for the joy the platform bringzzz. Big shout out to the @StadiaTeam You guyzzz rock and good luck with the future! Thank you for all the time you helped me save with no downloadzzz or updatezzz! Oh well im used to it! I'll still be gaming and left and right so don't worry! I love you all and see you in da cloudzzz! #Stadia100 

SparrowElite
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

BAD MOVE

I’m angered, upset, and betrayed. We had a good thing. We were a community. We thought Google cared about long-term vision. I’ll be retaliating.

Thanks to the people who made this work for 3 years. And a big middle finger to those who killed it. 

- Sparrow

AnanasRahmen
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

:face_with_open_mouth::dashing_away:

Meaculum
Community Member

It is a very bad decision for the community. Stadia was the best gaming platform for the whole family. It turned every screen at home into a gaming device. The technology was great i had never any issues with it. I don't understand why Google have such an short time frame for the service to succeed?

Actually there ist no alternative at home for me to have the same flexibility. I have an Android TV and two Google TV and now other service have such a functionality. Maybe Xbox Gaming will release an App for both, it could be the successor for Stadia.

Thanks for having fun all the time with Stadia... it was really a superb service for my Kids and me. 

wally7335
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Something to recall if Google does promises, to rest assured - Just two months ago on 29th July 2022: 

https://twitter.com/GoogleStadia/status/1552989433590214656 

So much to the value of Googles word…..

(No blame on Stadia Staff -  they were told so say so - for sure under NDA)

Gettysburg
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

A Ubisoft plusz-al mi lesz így gondolom az így megy a levesbe persze ami csak stadiàn elérhető volt.

Hát most úgy érzem magamat mintha beleszartak volna a számban :disappointed_face:

InstantKarmaUK
Founder
Founder

Sad to see the service bow out like this.  Hope the folks on the Stadia team are taken care of by Google and found alternative roles within the company.  Farewell Stadia.  Gone too soon!

doctorwho1983
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Well this is a real shame. I saw this coming though. Google have an awfully bad reputation for starting up amazing things, like Stadia, and then just pulling the plug on them. This leads to distrust from a consumer point of view towards Google. Google really need to be building consumer trust and putting the axe on stadia really isn't going to help this. People will just see a new product launch by Google and not bother with it, no matter how good it is, as they will think that it won't be around for long anyway as Google has a track record of just pulling the plug on things. It's a vicious circle that Google need to somehow break. It's a real shame. I'm normally an Xbox gamer, but I saw so much potential in Stadia. Great platform and ideas, plus great team behind stadia. Such a shame that Google lacks long term vision and commitment. This long term vision and commitment is what keeps companies like Microsoft and Apple going, as people trust that these companies are in it and committed to their products, even when things get rough. Google need to turn things around to gain this and like I said before, putting the axe on stadia, isn't helping or improving that consumer trust in Google. Come on Google, you come up with some great ideas and concepts. You must start learning to stick with them and commit. Fair play though that Google are issuing refunds. That is the decent thing to do.  

SirAntSmashalot
Founder
Founder

Really sad this decision has been made after all.

 

Economically speaking it probably makes sense. But **bleep**,.... A company with this big muscles being unable to make it in gaming is a sad sign for the future for everyone. 

Best tech for the users, good experience, so much potential. 

Thanks to all who put their heart and mind into it, your efforts will be missed. And thanks for trying Google. 

 

It's been a fun time.

ExtraRen
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I have 1300 hours on DBD on Stadia. I used the platform almost everyday for 2 years. It was by no means perfect, it was fine. I’m still sad it’s coming to an end, the money is nice tho. 

Dratster
Founder
Founder

A real shame, I still think Stadia is amazing, and my kids love playing some of the more kid friendly Pro games, they will be sad

Thanks for the hard work from the Stadia team, shame it has come to and end, hope you all find other roles inside Google (or outside of Google)

Been a Pro subscriber since day 1, I sure will miss that great library of games I have been amassing, still got many I have not found the time to play but thought I would one day... oh well :disappointed_face:

AlfredRomeo
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

No effing way .. are you kidding me I love this system and to fking pull the plug on this is really anger inducing. Ive been trying my hardest to get people to join and i never got to finish not one of my games. Now i gotta grind rdr2 and cyberpunk and **bleep**.... frick... why?....because i purchased so many games and a controller will i get a refund? That eases the burn if thats true but still Google.... wait it out a bit more. Do i get a refund for all the add ons and everything? **bleep** **bleep** **bleep**..... c..ks..cker..m..therf...er p..ce..of.s..t **bleep**.....

FedeSystem
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Google no sabe invertir, ni publicidad ni nada y se rinden antes de tiempo, y todavía la gente lo celebra, deberíamos dejar todos sus productos, en cualquier momento nos cierran cualquier servicio

Boshar
Community Member

Hope you guys land somewhere nice. Thanks for all the hard work. 

NoHarm
Founder
Founder

So long guys. Thanks for all the fish (and the good times). 

WatchingLeader
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Google support told me for wishes like enabling bluetooth for the Stadia controller to mention it on stadia.com

So, if someone is interested have a look and do this. But, to be honest i think they will ignore us since they dont care.

Tattooedlady
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Why. And will I be able to get the money I spent on upgrading my broadband because the broadband speed advertised was not enough to actually play the games properly without lagging or being chuked out of the game for no apparent reason. This news is a completely sucks.. but thanks to the stadia team for trying to make it work you tried so hard.. but Google didn't seem to know how to make it work no vision. Very upset :pouting_face: 

Robster1
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

a salute to stadia for these amazing years o7

Drinou92
Community Member

Hey Stadia,

I'm **bleep**ing sad to see the service stopped.

Everytime, I prefered to buy a game on stadia than on any other plate-forme (ps4, switch) as the gaming experience was so much better in the cloud and I did not have to wait for downloads and updates.

Thank you very much in advance to refund us, it shows you care that we supported you from the beginning and that we always will support you.

You'll stay in our hearts Stadia:red_heart:

bensmith
Community Member

I was just charged for Stadia Pro yesterday. Give me a refund for that immediately.

Daha
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Nooooooooooo...

I want Stadia to exist... the best gaming service :disappointed_face:

Shadowdarck
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

So I've thought about this news overnight and whilst I am disappointed that the service is ending, I am pleased that refunds will be due.

Having said that, if that is the decision, I'd rather have the option of receiving refunds sooner rather than later because personally I'd rather not continue playing on a platform on a game that I might not finish by the 18th Jan (I play occasionally).

I'd rather take the refund and invest elsewhere now to then start any games and build up progress....rather than wait until 18th January.

This to me would be a more reasonable approach given that any time between now and the 18th Jan, I'm not going to finish anything anytime soon!.

Therefore, perhaps give people the option to play up until the 18th Jan -or- they can elect to take the refunds sooner.

Like if you agree :slightly_smiling_face:

 

BlackZam
Founder
Founder

This is so sad.
Stadia was the perfect gaming service for me.

Back to my old PS4 and mobile games now then. :disappointed_face:

Hannix
Founder
Founder

Shocking and totally unexpected news! Was so excited about the Stadia streaming model. Very easy to use across multiple devices. Convinced it was the ‘YouTube’ for gaming. Delighted to support this as a founder member, sad to see it out as a failed project. Perhaps some day it will get a reboot. Good luck and thanks to the Stadia team.

Marc2000
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Raz coś Google zrobiło dobrze i zamyka ponownie swój biznes. Jestem rozczarowany i prawdziwie wkurwiony, specjalnie dla Stadi kupiłem Nvidie Shield. Już więcej nie zaufam Google kupiłem właśnie Xboxa S i czekam na cholerny zwrot pieniędzy. Nie pozdrawiam i nie będę miły, nie napisze do was po angielsku użyjcie sobie swojego Google Translatora.

Toeknee
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

We should have our subscription money refunded. I’ve invested monthly into your service and know I have to come up with the cash to buy an Xbox because Google decided to give up on another project. 

DavonXP
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Aww man I don't know how I'm going to be able to play games anymore can't afford a better pc, but man it's been a good 3 years, sad to see it go :disappointed_face:

SparrowElite
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Thanks for the refunds.

Litbugi
Founder
Founder

Thank you Google for an awesome experience. I am devastated at the news of the discontinuation of Stadia because it is a truly great platform. I was lucky enough to be able to pilot Stadia before it became Stadia and I thought it was groundbreaking. I couldn't stop telling people about how awesome it was. Of course I had to become a part of the Founder's edition because I was amazed by the quality and speed. I even switched to a Google Pixel phone because initially that was the only way to play on a mobile device and I loved it. Even though this project is ending I just want to say thank you to all involved in the project because as a user I had a fantastic experience. Google is a company that paves the way for new ways of seeing and doing and Stadia has set the framework for the next level in gaming. While I knew this day could come (based on Google's history) and I am sad that it is here, I am also happy to have had such a positive experience with Stadia. Thank you again @StadiaTeam !

Thepunisher2162
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Thank you stadia for three years of easy access to games. I love gaming and when I didn't have a console this was the best thing around. I've made gaming memories with this app and wish you guys the best of luck it's been fun; but sad to see it ending. :disappointed_face:

Tattooedlady
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Hi I'm back. Does anyone know which gaming cloud/console is the best way to play games. So upset. When is Luna coming to the UK :united_kingdom: it's depressing enough in Britain at the moment, stadia was my escape. So thank you google bosses. :loudly_crying_face::loudly_crying_face::loudly_crying_face:

Lemuntu1
Community Member

I am devasted, as I imagine must be the Stadia team.

Sold all my game consoles and only played on Stadia, this hurt!

OfflineGamer
Community Member

I chatted with John about trying to activate a Stadia Pro account today (yes I'm late to activating my account but life got in the way) and John informed me that the service to activate accounts has been shut down. Now I'm unable to use my awesome Wasabi green Stadia controller to use the awesome cloud gaming service that I never got to experience because I hadn't had enough free time to get around to using until now because I work allot. I had very high expectations that the service would stay alive for several decades and be the number one source for cloud gaming. My only feedback I had with the service is they needed to offer all game's on a subscription model to be as a pay this amount and you have access to every game on the cloud gaming service. The negative part was paying for a service and then having to pay again for owning a game. That part never made any sense for a streaming service. I hope the technology goes to good use in the future and hopefully one day it will come back stronger then ever. I'll keep my Wasabi controller for nostalgia.

Also after reading all the sad comments it's a very sad week for gaming. I wish I was apart of this community 3 year's ago when it started.

I just hope cloud gaming will continue to live on. I know it won't be as awesome as what Stadia put together. I just hope PlayStation can continue there cloud gaming service and not let Microsoft dominate the cloud gaming landscape.

I'll be gaming on PlayStation until something greater comes down the road or I eventually cave in and buy a expensive gaming PC.

Sad that Google caved in to all the negative hate. I'll continue supporting Google products in the future.

zraihusky
Founder
Founder

I am so sad about this news! I am going to miss this so much! Please come back soon, and we can help spread the word! 

pepperpot80
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

This is awful news. There's nothing like Stadia, where I can *genuinely* play anywhere on any device. Utterly crazy to be shutting down a service which should be the forefront of device-less gaming. Where is the alternative Google? Where is the continued support? Where is any attempt to make this commercially viable? Where is the effort to support customers?

As an enterprise purchaser for a FTSE company, it's moves like this which undermine any confidence in Google services at large - the threat of the rug pull from under any service at any moment makes it impossible to invest.  

WatchingLeader
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Doesnt make sense to be upset. Google doesnt give a s..t, if they did they would care to be their products known to the people. They have enormous marketing issues and communicating problems.

2 months ago they said no worries for shutting down and now the opposite. If they do this as a marketing joke, then they prove they are a joke too. 

pepperpot80
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

How much would it cost for us, subscribers, to pay for the servers? Google owes us some transparency here. 

Ibeblades
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I remember when this came out everyone who had issues with it did not have the proper internet quality for it and trashed it being crap, but for me it was amazing being able to launch destiny 2 on my phone and enjoy some pvp WHILE  on 4g lte at a lake input delay was non existent as I had full bars, I would stream it on twitch to show the service does indeed work, id stream doom eternal my first game bought on the platform really enjoyed that experience on stadia i even prefer playing destiny at one point on gaming PC as my graphics card wasn't doing so good but ran stadia just fine I'll greatly miss this service and the platform and the memories I had on it thank you stadia! :heart_suit: I will be using stadia for destiny 2 and stream it to the very end

atomsymbol
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

If somebody (not me, sorry) would start a petition titled "Save Stadia", I wonder how many people would sign it. There exist examples of petitions aimed at the entertainment industry, such as SaveTheExpanse on change.org.

Razr
Founder
Founder

Truly gutted to hear this. Having been an advocate for the platform since launch its been difficult to convince people of awesomeness that is/was stadia. Kudos to the teams on the platform and the developers. You dared to challenge the big players and did a great job shaking up the gaming industry.

RIP Stadia - the world wasn't ready for you. 

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