Google Stadia just released its last game before it shuts down next week, and it’s from the company that makes the platform.
At the end of September, Google announced that it would shut down its cloud gaming service Stadia, which had been launched for only three years. The last day you’ll be able to use the service is January 18th, just a few days away, and in honor of the occasion, Google, in a slightly sad way, released the last game before it shut down: Worm Game.
“Play the games that came to Stadia before Stadia came to the world,” reads the game’s description on its Stadia page. “‘Game of Worms’ is an obscure title we’ve used to test many of Stadia’s features, from before our public launch in 2019 until 2022. It won’t win Game of the Year, but the Stadia team spent a lot Time to play it and we thought we’d share it with you. Thank you for playing, thank you for everything.” Honestly, sad.
A simple title for a simple game that’s essentially just a clone of the classic mobile game Snake, though you’re a fruit-collecting worm. There are several modes you can play, like campaign, arcade, or multiplayer, and there are a few stages to play, but obviously it’s more of a test of the service, and it’s pretty straightforward overall.
The announcement wasn’t a huge surprise, given Google’s own admission that the service wasn’t attracting enough players, but it was clear that it gave some gamers who had already invested a lot of time and money in the service a little pause. Pickle. When it comes to money, Google does refund customers on every purchase, at least. But the issue of time is another matter, as some players do put many hours into their Stadia saves. Some developers, such as Bungie, IO Interactive and Ubisoft, as well as Red Dead Online are trying to get players to transfer their save files, but there’s a problem with that.
