Google officially denied the rumour that Stadia’s gaming service would soon close down. It stated that it was still “working to bring more great games” to the platform.
Google’s cloud-based gaming platform Stadia has been subject to deathwatch almost since its inception. This is due to unclear marketing campaigns, technical issues reports, and the lack of basic functionality at launch. This situation became direr when Stadia’s Jade Raymond, an internal development studio led by Stadia, was closed down in early 2021.
This may explain, at least in part, why yesterday’s rumour on the Killed by Google Twitter feed attracted so much attention. It was attributed to an anonymous friend who is a regional Google manager.
The message states that Google has begun their exit strategy. They did not give a precise date, but they said it would be by the summer. He mentioned that they wouldn’t be transferring their servers or services to any other competitor. It will be similar to what they did with Google Play Music. The exit strategy and approach will be the same.
He also stated that members would be notified 30-60 days before the start of service and that any remaining months would be refunded. There will be no charges for their use. All subscription months that are still available will be fully refunded to your linked bank account.
It’s like all good rumours: it’s untraceable and thin but has enough detail to make it plausible. Naturally, it generated a lot of conversation: Gaming Leaks and Rumors subreddit members accepted the report as accurate (and expected), while Stadia subreddit users were more sceptical. Stadia stated on Twitter that this is not true.
Stadia is not closing,” said the official account in response to a user asking if it was closing soon. Rest assured, we constantly work to bring more great games onto the platform and Stadia Pro.
This makes it official. Many people, I assume Stadia owners, expressed relief in the responses. However, not all were convinced.
This is not surprising. A Kotaku report earlier this year stated that Stadia general manager Phil Harrison sent an email to his staff, praising their “great progress.”
