Google Stadia | Shutting Down Jan. 2023

[Frank]

I'm surprised Google is offering refunds. Let's see if they actually refund my Stadia device and Republique game purchase :-P

My belief is they're refunding every game purchase and every purchase of any hardware. The only thing I don't think is being refunded is any subscriptions, as I've not heard anything about those and seen people questioning it. I've seen more people asking for Google to enable Bluetooth on the Stadia controller though so it can be used with other systems since as a controller it isn't a bad design.

How did you find Stadia btw, assuming you used it?

It honestly wasn't great. I only tried it for a couple of months, and it was serviceable but very much the less ideal way to play. 

I believe the technology Microsoft is using for Game Pass works way better.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah I've heard xCloud is the best cloud-based service that exists in gaming at the moment, so that doesn't surprise me.

[WR91]

Cloud Gaming just isn't it right now. So I'm glad Stadia is closing up shop. Plus, I can't stand Google.

[Moonface]

@Frank: Probably a good thing you're getting a refund on that then considering your experience with it.

As for xCloud being better, it's so weird to me that Google being the big tech company they are wouldn't manage to offer a service on par with that when it comes to functionality.

[Frank]

@Frank: Probably a good thing you're getting a refund on that then considering your experience with it.

As for xCloud being better, it's so weird to me that Google being the big tech company they are wouldn't manage to offer a service on par with that when it comes to functionality.

Honestly, it doesn't surprise me that much. As much as I love many of Google's services and products, they are notorious for canceling projects early in their life cycle.

Remember Google's social media platform? How about Google Video? The one the hurts me the most is Google Play Music.

I found a fun website that lists everything in "the Google Graveyard" 

[Moonface]

@Frank: Probably a good thing you're getting a refund on that then considering your experience with it.

As for xCloud being better, it's so weird to me that Google being the big tech company they are wouldn't manage to offer a service on par with that when it comes to functionality.

Honestly, it doesn't surprise me that much. As much as I love many of Google's services and products, they are notorious for canceling projects early in their life cycle.

Remember Google's social media platform? How about Google Video? The one the hurts me the most is Google Play Music.

I found a fun website that lists everything in "the Google Graveyard" 

Oh I'm aware of the track record Google has with killing their projects on a regular basis. I guess that could possibly explain why they wouldn't go all-in on the cloud tech for Stadia, but half-assing it is just going to contribute to its failure.

Also, I saw a picture yesterday where someone found a Stadia kit dumped in a box at some thrift store, and my immediate thought was anyone who sold their Stadia system is getting super lucky because they'll get the sale of their Stadia plus a refund for their initial purchase of that Stadia. Meanwhile, whoever bought it from them is pretty much shit outta luck. XD

[Moonface]

Says a lot of how confident Google was about Stadia when they've just announced a series of cloud-gaming based Chromebooks that support Xbox Cloud, Amazon Luna, and NVIDIA GeForce Now.

I guess Google still has an interest in cloud-gaming, but looks like they're aiming to make devices better suited to supporting existing services by other companies. It's just crazy to think Google would've been working on these things for a while, so they knew ages ago they were killing the project and yet still pulled the rug on developers who were making games. It would've been better to NDA everyone who has yet to release anything so they can adjust earlier without being allowed to share what they were doing before Google made the death of Stadia announcement.

[Frank]

I think it's moreso Google stepping out of the game streaming service. Not that they won't still make devices and software that work with other companies game streaming services, but their own proprietary one is over.

Honestly for the best. I'd love for the tech behind Stadia to get implemented into Microsoft's X Cloud. I played the 30 minute trial for all of the Atari Recharged games 2 days ago on stadia. Performance was better than I remembered it being.

[Moonface]

One of the things I really hoped to see happen before Stadia fully closes on January 18 is for the controllers to have their Bluetooth connections enabled for use on other systems, so I'm happy to have seen this news announced. Apparently it's a really decent controller so it would suck if they all became paperweights in five days.