Key points
- It’s a sad day for gamers as Google finally shuts down its cloud-gaming service Stadia.
- Although Google had it made it very clear last September that it will pull the plug in 2023, the gaming community has taken the news with a pinch of salt.
- Stadia’s servers are officially shutting down today, just two months before its third anniversary.
All good things must come to an end, and we have one more example in front of us. Stadia servers will officially shut down today as Google finally draws curtains on its cloud-gaming service. Google announced Stadia’s fate last year, stating that it would pull the plug in January 2023.
Gamers from across the globe are not impressed with how Google handled this project, which according to them was way ahead of its time. It appears that Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna are the two popular streaming services that will now carry forward the baton for cloud gaming. Time will tell whether they will go on to become a success or whether their journey will be cut short just like Stadia.
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Why did Google Stadia fail?
There is no denying that Google is known for introducing path-breaking innovations to the world, and Stadia was one of them. However, even the best get it wrong at times and today, we wave Stadia goodbye for one last time. But why did Google Stadia fail?
Many factors can be attributed to Stadia’s downfall.
Right from its launch, the only way to get your hands on Stadia was to spend $130 on Founders Edition or the Premium Edition. This would get you a starter kit with a few goodies including the Chromecast Ultra, Stadia controller, and a 3-month Stadia Pro subscription.
It took almost a year for the free version to hit the market. By then, Stadia’s reputation had taken a hit due to negative word of mouth and a dearth of good-quality games. It reached a point where people did not care anymore.
Stadia was created for gamers who wanted to enjoy top-tier titles but couldn’t either afford or commit to purchasing the hardware. But once the access barrier was ultimately removed, it didn’t matter because there wasn’t much value inside that one couldn’t find elsewhere. As a result, it failed those people. Cloud gaming would eventually be included with Sony and Microsoft’s consoles as a “bonus” in their larger subscription packages.
What’s next?
Google is still dedicated to gaming, but Stadia’s demise is a major setback for both those who spent a lot of money creating the platform and consumer trust in the future of the industry as a whole. It’s hardly a great sign of dedication to investing all that time and money in service only to shut it down less than three years after the launch.
However, Google deserves praise for how it handled the situation overall. To begin with, the business declared that any hardware and supplemental content purchases purchased through its purchases will be refunded by this time next year. The business started releasing a software update via Chrome earlier this week that adds a Bluetooth mode to make the controller compatible with other devices.
Stadia’s fate is sealed, but what can we expect next?
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Feature Image Source: Photo by Moises Gonzalez on Unsplash
