RIP: Google Stadia is ending service in 2023

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While it seemed all but inevitable, it is now official. Google Stadia is ending its cloud gaming service on January 18, 2023. The news comes from a new Google blog post.

The Stadia launched nearly three years ago with a ton of press, and things seemed promising for the cloud gaming service at the start.

While plenty of people were skeptical of Google’s commitment, games and updates continued to release. In May of last year, even with many key employees leaving, the company doubled down on its commitment.

Now, that seems to be coming to an end. In a statement, Stadia vice president and GM Phil Harrison notes,

“A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia “And while Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.”

Current Stadia employees will be relocated to other divisions, according to the blog post. Additionally, people that bought Stadia hardware and games through the Google Store will be refunded by mid-January.

All is not lost for Stadia, however. The company plans to roll some of its tech into other products, including YouTube and the Google Play Store.

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