Google's Stadia Cloud Gaming Platform Shuts Down Today (macrumors.com) 26
Google is officially shutting down its Stadia cloud gaming service today, Wednesday, January 18, after having failed to gain the traction that the company was expecting. Google servers that host the service are due to shut down at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors reports: Launched in November 2019, the service was designed to allow for cloud-based gaming across a range of devices, including PCs, Chromebooks, Macs, iPhones, and iPads. Reports began emerging in early 2021 of Stadia's underwhelming uptake among gamers, shortly after Google's decision to kill its only in-house Stadia game development studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment (SG&E), only two years into its life. Since announcing the shutdown in September 2022, Google has promised to refund any and all Stadia purchases. They've also recently offered a tool to make Stadia controller capable of using Bluetooth, allowing them to be used with other gaming platforms.
Must be Tuesday (Score:5, Funny)
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There was more than one?
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Google shuts down another service.
More that another game streaming service fails. SPOILER ALERT... the next one will fail too just like every other attempt.
I tried a game once on stadia (Score:1)
At least they're gonna put out a firmware update (Score:2)
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That's not just the "at least" part. Google demonstrated an absolute masterclass of how to shutdown a service:
1. Refund customer
2. Assist developers in transferring customer data to other platforms.
3. Open up hardware to prevent it turning into e-waste.
Another post facetiously said "nothing of value was lost" and they are right. Much of the value has been either retained or refunded to customers as a result of this shutdown.
Honestly there should be laws mandating exactly this behaviour for all shutdowns. We
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Yeah, I think that was more face saving than anything else, because Google hasn't shown any of that for the other stuff they've shut down over the years.
Almost always it was "we're shutting it down in 6 months, there is no alternative, bye!"
That's why Stadia
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Noooooooo! (Score:2)
Screamed no one.
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Honestly, I'm kinda sad. As an adult who only games on occasion, the Stadia was ideal. No big console taking up space in my living room, no trying to get my hands on a GPU during the height of shortages and price increases. It was super low barrier to entry.
Of course, I recognize that I'm a niche case and am not at all surprised it shut down, but I will actually miss it.
Steam (Score:2)
You have to be at least as good as Steam to get people to switch or have some sort of vendor lock in to get people to grudgingly use your platform (umm epic?).
Stadia didn't even get close.
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It makes you think twice before ordering a Chromecast or a Google Nest device, doesn't it? You never really know what unprofitable products they'll be trimming from the product catalog next year.
Re: Steam (Score:2)
That was literally the reason I didnt use it.
Learn my lesson with that enough times. Proud I stayed away this one.
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Learn my lesson with that enough times. Proud I stayed away this one.
The lesson you learnt being you could have used this for the full time while it was operational, gotten a full refund at the end, and converted your hardware to be perfectly functional on other platforms as well?
That was the lesson? That you don't like free stuff and you're happy to not get it?
Google shuts down shit every other day, but unlike many companies out there, there's basically no loss to the end user when Google does it. Nearly all of their shutdowns have offered easy migration paths to other serv
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No. The launches are done with a fanfare that Joe Shmoe on the street sees, and re-enforces his idea that Google continue to do amazing things. The shutdown however is done quietly. You and I, and everyone here will see it, but we already know their reputation. Joe continues to think Google are the best, continues to buy their phones, or phones running their software and services, continues to use their search, and thus keeps supplying them with his data. This is totally part of Google's business strategy.
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You have to be at least as good as Steam to get people to switch or have some sort of vendor lock in to get people to grudgingly use your platform (umm epic?).
Stadia didn't even get close.
No you don't. What you need to do is separate the concept of providing a service and providing the product within that service. Google's biggest downfall was charging you a monthly fee, and then charging you again to buy a game, not integrating with the systems you own. You need to decide what you're providing people. If you're providing just a streaming service, don't charge for the games, or allow customers to bring their own.
There's a reason Google Stadia's software was downloaded 3million times, while N
Good. (Score:2)
This kind of rent-seeking behavior deserves to be punished.
Remember those who died ... (Score:2)
Let us all take a moment and remember all the products and services that were killed by Google [killedbygoogle.com], ending up in Google Cemetery [gcemetery.co].
This is why you never jump on the new shiny thing (Score:2)