The fateful day has arrived: today Google Stadia closes its doors permanently and, by tomorrow, the service will be globally discontinued after three years of operation. Initially launched as the “Netflix of video games,” Stadia debuted in 2019 as a cloud gaming service. Gamers could access the titles in the catalog simply by using a Stadia controller, without needing to own a gaming console or PC.
After spending much of 2022 denying rumors of a possible closure, Stadia announced in September that the service would continue to exist only until January 2023. Google had also set a deadline: January 18thi.e. today. However, the process of shutting down the servers will continue until at least 09:00 tomorrow. Along with the fateful announcement, Google had also made it known that all players would be refunded for their purchases.
Refunds are for games as much as Stadia controllers and DLC. As far as we know, as of today, all players globally should have gotten their promised refund.
Google Stadia closes: the last game and the farewell of users
Just yesterday, 24 hours after closing, Google Stadia released the latest game. It’s about Worm Game, a proprietary title that was used by the developers to test the potential of the service. A game never publicly released, at least until yesterday, which therefore sounds like a parting gift to players. The announcement of the latest title came with a message of thanks to the users who, over the course of these three years, have used the service. Last week Google had also made it known that thanks to an upcoming update it will be possible to use Stadia controllers on other platforms as well.
You might have seen one last game arrive on Stadia today. It’s a humble 🧡 thanks 💜 for playing from our team.
Find it here: https://t.co/PyAUH181v1
— Stadia ☁️🎮 (@GoogleStadia) January 13, 2023
Meanwhile the players on the net, as a real mourning ritual, are paying tribute to the service. Some observe, not without a note of sadness, that many of the games in the catalog will disappear forever, as they are not available for other platforms. An example above all is Outcasters, a multiplayer title developed by the British software house Splash Damage. The latter, already last year, he had confirmed that I have no intention of porting the game to other consoles.
Below is a selection of tweets from gamers who are paying homage to Google Stadia after the shutdown.
Alas, the day has come.
While my time on the @GoogleStadia team ended a while ago, I’ll forever be grateful for being given the opportunity to work with such an intelligent group of folks and to have met so many wonderful Stadians.
GGs everyone 🧡💜 #Stadia pic.twitter.com/L0BV0LCRky
— Grace Yang 🥑 (@Grace_Yang_) January 18, 2023
Time to say my farewells to @GoogleStadia. Whilst i wasnt onboard with the business model, the tech for me was flawless. Just had a perfect 30m blast on Doom, and you would have no idea it was being streamed.
Plus one of the best controllers around.
Farewell Stadia, farewell. pic.twitter.com/DZIzki3ngl
— Retro Gaming Geek (@retrogaminggeek) January 18, 2023