Highlights:
- Google has announced that it would be terminating its online gaming platform Stadia, which it introduced in 2019.
- The company announced that Stadia services will be shut down on January 18 and that most rebates should be processed by mid-January
- Recently, Google CEO Sundar Pichai declared that one of his goals for the corporation is to increase productivity by twenty percent.
In 2019, Google became one of many digital behemoths to enter the gaming industry with the debut of their gaming platform known as Google Stadia. Stadia, which some people have referred to as the “Netflix of video games,” enables gamers to broadcast and play games using the streaming server Chromecast on their mobile phones, internet browsers, and other systems.
Stadia, Google’s cloud-based gaming service, is scheduled to be discontinued in January 2023, just over three years after the company first launched the service. The company cites low demand from users.
BREAKING: Google is closing down its Stadia cloud streaming service. The service will remain live until January 18th, 2023. Google is refunding all Stadia purchases. Full details here: https://t.co/kONpih37UA
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 29, 2022Prior to this, there were a number of warning signs that Stadia might collapse. It has been announced that Google would stop creating video games on its Stadia platform after the year 2021. Other technology companies have also been forced to reevaluate the gaming strategies they use.
After stating that he intends to make the firm more effective by 20%, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has taken the next step to minimize expenses by closing down the Stadia gaming platform. As the corporation grapples with a litany of economic issues and decreasing growth, Pichai’s attempts to improve efficiency may entail reductions in both the number of products and employees.
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The decision comes at a time when Google and other large corporations are reevaluating their hiring practices and investment strategies in response to a weak market and fears of a global economic downturn. Harrison added that despite the shutdown of the service, Google is still very committed to the gaming industry.
Harrison claims that Google has plans to incorporate a portion of the technology that is behind Stadia into other products down the road. In addition, Harrison said that the technology that was developed for Stadia would not be wasted.
Google has announced that it will be issuing refunds for all sales of Stadia hardware made via the Google Store as well as any transactions of game and add-on items made through the Stadia store. It implies that you will not be able to get a refund for your Stadia Pro membership, but you aren’t going to be billed during the closure time. Additionally, you will be able to access any games that you may have purchased as a Pro member until the server is completely shut down. The company further has said that it will continue to promote gaming in other domains and will provide assistance to developers in the creation and distribution of gaming applications through Google Play and Google Play Games.
