Who believed it? Launched with great fanfare at the end of 2019, Google’s streaming game service never really convinced anyone. With players already well established in this sector, such as Microsoft and the xCloud technology that has since been integrated into Xbox Game Pass, or even Nvidia GeForce Now and its tempting game offer, Stadia has never been able to make a name for itself in the booming cloud gaming market, despite promising technology. Almost three years later, the firm announces that it will cut the service definitively at the very beginning of 2023.
Little angel gone too soon
Many rumors have been circulating for months about this closure of Stadia servers, but this time it’s official : Google’s first attempt in the deep end of video games to try to compete with the big manufacturers on the market is therefore a huge failure, to be placed alongside the Ouya or the Ngage. It must be said that the competition, even at the level of gaming services in the cloud, is quite fierce and Google has clearly paid the price, with an offer that lacked clarity, far from profitable for the average player.
head in the cloud
The efforts of the teams at the bedside of Stadia technology will not be in vain, since it will be readjusted in several Google services, such as Youtube, Google Play or augmented reality. The same goes for the staff who worked on the service, who will be reallocated to other parts of the company. The tech giant is still a good player by announcing that all the equipment as well as the games and absolutely everything related to Stadia will be reimbursed until mid-January. The complete shutdown of the service is set for January 18, 2023.