The closure of Google Stadia will not be easy for the developers. Informed of this decision at the same time as everyone else, they must now find solutions to not let shoppers lose their own games or their money.
Google Stadia is taking early retirement after just three years of service, abandoning the few subscribers who believed in the project and, more importantly, the developers. But they won’t give up easily.
Your Stadia games are not lost yet
While Stadia’s shutdown is a bit abrupt, current subscribers will not be harmed. In fact, when Google announced the closure of its cloud gaming platform, it announced full refunds on purchases. This includes games, DLCs and the hardware part. We’re assuming the company is talking about the controller, which isn’t Bluetooth compatible and only serves Stadia or even Chromecast, depending on the package purchased.
All hardware purchases made on the Google Store and all games and DLCs on the Stadia Store will be refunded.
This is a first option, but the partner video game studios are considering another. Publisher Ubisoft is already working on bringing Stadia purchases to its Ubisoft Connect platform. The company will have more information and details ” later “.
On Bungie’s site, the “Conversations have begun” to see if it is also possible to proceed with such an action. IO Interactive also wants players to be able to continue living in the world assassination world from the Hitman trilogy.
To all our Hitman fans on Google Stadia. We’re listening – we’re looking at ways to continue your Hitman experience on other platforms.
Developers not warned
The background to this closure is not very good, as Google made this decision again and publicly communicated it without warning. The developers discovered the news like the players on the Internet and were therefore surprised. If the Luxor Evolved studio hadn’t planned a PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch version of the game, it could have resulted in astronomical losses. A six-figure sum according to developer Rebecca Heineman (via axios).
Aside from the financial issues this closure could cause, Q-Games CEO Dylan Cuthbert is concerned about the preservation of PixelJunk Raiders. A Stadia exclusive that will be released in 2021. The studio will look for other partners, but will the result be the one hoped for?
These new testimonies are eerily reminiscent of Phil Harrison (ex-PS3-era PlayStation) lying to game studio employees before they shut down. And in general, it reinforces the idea of a bad end-to-end strategy.
