Google is pulling the plug on Stadia: Things to know before the service shuts down – Times of India

Google announced in September 2022 that it is shutting down its cloud gaming service Stadia after it failed to generate enough traction that the company anticipated. The company recently started issuing refunds to all those who bought Stadia software from Stadia store and hardware from Google store. Here’s all you need to know before Google brings the curtain down on the service.
What is Google Stadia?
Simply put, Google Stadia allowed subscribers to play a wide range of games through the internet. Gamers could play games on their smartphones, TVs and laptops as long as they had a compatible screen. Stadia was a big deal because it allowed gamers to play titles in up to 4K resolution and at high frame rates without having to purchase high-end equipment.

Google Stadia shut down date
Launched in 2019, Google Stadia will officially shut down on January 18 at 11:59 PM PT, as per Google spokesperson Patrick Seybold.
Why is Google shutting down Stadia?
Google Stadia vice president and GM Phil Harrison said that the service was not able to gain traction as the company expected. Google will distribute Stadia employees to other parts of the company.
“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,” Harrison said in a blog post.

What happens to Google Stadia subscribers?
Google Stadia subscribers will be able to access their games library and play through January 18, 2023. The company announced that it 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.
“We expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023,” the company said in a statement.
Can users transfer Stadia games to other platforms?
Some publishers have announced ways to transfer games and saves to other platforms. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red will let gamers transfer their game data to PC by manually downloading it using Google Takeout.

Destiny 2 characters from Stadia can be brought to other platforms by turning on cross-save before January 18.
Hitman 3 developer IO Interactive will allow players to do a one-time “Stadia Progression Carryover” to bring their progress to PC, Xbox, or PlayStation. For this, gamers have to link their IOI Account to Stadia account before Stadia’s servers shut down.
Ubisoft games announced it is giving out free PC copies of Ubisoft games players own on Stadia. Players just have to link their Ubisoft and Stadia accounts before January 18.