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For
Stadia
, the cloud gaming service that Google launched in 2019, the game is over.
Phil Harrison, head of the division, confirmed today that the service will stop working on
January 18, 2023
after not having reached the number of users initially expected.
"We've built a strong technology foundation, but we haven't gotten the expected traction," Harrison said in a statement on the service's website.
The company
will return to players all the money they have spent over the years both on games and on controllers and other accessories
.
From
they will begin to contact users in the coming weeks for refunds and the company hopes to complete all of them by mid-January 2023.
Stadia
started three years ago as a gamble that was then unorthodox in the world of training.
Instead of using a console or downloading a game and installing it on a computer,
players played on a remote server,
receiving only the video signal of the game and sending information about the buttons pressed on the controller.
It required a very
low latency connection (the time it takes for the signal to go from a device to a server and vice versa) but thanks to
's huge deployment of data centers
, most games could be played relatively well with this system. .
One of the advantages of cloud gaming was that you didn't need
a powerful device
to enjoy titles with good graphic quality.
Players could also play anywhere that had a relatively fast connection, around 35 Mbits/s.
also developed several proprietary video streaming and compression technologies to make games viewable even in 4K resolution.
The money will not be returned
In addition to the option to buy games to play remotely,
Stadia
also launched a Pro version, a subscription service that included free games every month, discounts, and better streaming quality.
Money paid for these
subscriptions
will not be refunded.
The closure of the service has caught
many gamers
by surprise , despite the fact that it had been rumored for months due to personnel changes and the decision to close the in-house development studio, which the company launched in 2019 to create exclusive games. .
Until now,
had maintained that the future of the service was assured and that the changes were strategic to guide the business towards becoming a service for third-party companies, not so much focused on end users.
This week
Stadia
released a new graphical interface and new games, including early access to the long-awaited FIFA 23. "It's very depressing. I can't say I'm surprised, but I loved the service," lamented one of the
Stadia
users in the Reddit forum.
Since the launch of
Stadia
, several cloud gaming services have appeared with the same philosophy, such as Amazon's Luna, or Nvidia's GeForce Now -which allows you to remotely play some titles in the Steam personal catalog or Epic store.
Microsoft and Sony
also offer the possibility of playing many of the titles of their Xbox and PlayStation consoles in the cloud.
But for
Stadia
gamers , the days are numbered.
They will be able to continue playing the games purchased in their catalog until January 18, 2023. From then on,
Game Over.
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