Game developers react to Google Stadia’s unexpected shutdown

Google’s announcement about Stadia will be shutting down early next year surprised many people, including several game developers who planned to release their titles on the cloud streaming service. When Stadia first launched a few years ago, it did so with a small but respectable library of games that slowly grew over time. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Destiny 2, and Cyberpunk 2077 are big names in the cloud, but Stadia is also home to a large number of indie games that have found a new audience on the service.

With Stadia officially shutting down on January 18, 2023, a number of developers, studios and PR companies have reacted to this news and how it will affect their games. Some of these studios are still planning to release games on Stadia before the announcement is made, and players may also risk losing all their work in some titles due to the lack of cross-save support. .

Tom Vian of SFB Games described how the news went public as the first they heard about Stadia’s imminent closure – two days before the launch of Tangle Tower on the platform – and Necrosoft Games Director Brandon Sheffield talked about how Stadia has the “best developer revenue” of any streaming service. Indie game developer Simon Roth lament how stressful game development can be and how months of hard work have essentially passed.

In terms of major AAA games, so far only developer Hitman 3 IO Interactive and Destiny 2’s Bungie solved the Stadia situation. Hitman in-game unlockable progress, rewards, and gear are linked to individual in-game accounts, and IO says it’s “finding a way” for Stadia players to continue their journey across platforms. other platform. Bungie simply mentioned that they have “started a conversation about next steps” for Stadia members and that they will update their players as soon as possible.

In a more direct example of how Stadia’s closure will affect some companies, No More Robot’s Mike Rose didn’t interrupt and tweeted about poor communication from Google and possible lack of payment for an upcoming game from the publisher.

Stadia subscribers won’t be affected too much when Google pulls its streaming service next year. Players will still have access to their game library until January 18, and Google has confirmed that it will issue refunds for all Stadia hardware, game, and DLC purchases made. available through the Google Store.