Google confirms it will shut down Stadia

Google will officially shut down its Stadia game streaming service next year, it’s announced.

In a statement published on Thursday, Stadia’s general manager Phil Harrison admitted that the service hadn’t gained the traction with users that it expected, since launching nearly three years ago.

Google 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, Harrison said.

Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023.

“For many years, Google has invested across multiple aspects of the gaming industry,” Harrison said. “We help developers build and distribute gaming apps on Google Play and Google Play Games.

“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.

“A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. And 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 so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.”

According to Google, the underlying technology platform that powers Stadia will be used across other parts of the company like YouTube, Google Play, and its Augmented Reality (AR) efforts.

“We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest in new tools, technologies and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers and creators,” Harrison’s statement continues.

“For the Stadia team, building and supporting Stadia from the ground up has been fueled by the same passion for games that our players have. Many of the Stadia team members will be carrying this work forward in other parts of the company.

“We’re so grateful for the groundbreaking work of the team and we look forward to continuing to have an impact across gaming and other industries using the foundational Stadia streaming technology.”

Earlier this year, a Business Insider report claimed Google had shifted the focus of its Stadia division largely to securing deals with partners that include Peloton, Capcom, and Bungie.

According to the publication, Google was in discussions with developers such as Bungie and Capcom about potentially integrating Stadia’s cloud streaming tech directly into their games, without the need for its Stadia consumer offering.

Stadia’s closure follows its decision to close all its internal game development teams last year, which at the time it claimed was made in order to focus on partnering with third-party studios.

That decision was followed by several high-profile departures. They included former Stadia games boss Jade Raymond, who left to form a new studio called Haven, which is backed by PlayStation and has since hired six more former Stadia employees.