In the year 2019, Google launched its Stadia streaming service with much fanfare. Three years after spending millions of dollars to compete with Amazon and Microsoft, the tech giant is shutting down the service because of its failure to gain traction from gamers. On Thursday, Google announced that it would stop its Stadia in early 2023.
We covered Stadia's launch when the search giant unveiled its new game streaming platform that lets users play high-end games without consoles, such as Nintendo s Switch or Sony s PlayStation. In June of last year, Google expanded the streaming service to 14 countries in November of the same year, at a cost of $9.99 a month.
The games could only be played on an Android phone and Google Chromecast, unlike other platforms.
In a blog post, Google vice president and general manager of Stadia Phil Harrison said:
Harrison said that while Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction of users that we expected. Google will refund all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store.
Google offered both subscription and subscription-free gaming, named Stadia Pro and Stadia Basic services at the time of the launch. The $9.99 month for the Stadia Pro service was not available to everyone. Customers who buy a $129 hardware and service bundle from the company will not be able to access the service, which is called the Stadia Founders Edition.
There is a decline in demand for video games from the pandemic highs as gaming companies face headwinds from the global economic downturn.