Yesterday, Google delivered some jarring news when it announced that it was shutting down Stadia, its cloud game streaming service. While the company pretty much answered all the questions one could have about the news, some were in shock, while many industry insiders knew that it was coming at some point. While it's unfortunate, there is a small silver lining, as Ubisoft has now stepped up to support the transfer of Ubisoft games purchased on Stadia, so they can be played on PC.

While Ubisoft doesn't have a timeline of when this option will be available, at least it's an option. It is also unknown whether game progress will be transferred as well. Speaking with The Verge, Ubisoft senior corporate communications manager Jessica Roache stated:

While Stadia will shut down on January 18th, 2023, we’re happy to share that we’re currently working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect. We’ll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.

But what about those without a PC? I mean, that's a very likely scenario, right? Well, as we reported yesterday, Google is already promising to refund all game and add-on content purchases made on the platform. So, in the end, no matter what happens, Stadia gamers will be covered, which is a good thing.

If you're hearing the news of Google Stadia shutting down for the first time, let's go ahead and recap what's going to happen going forward. Despite the shutdown, Google will be offering full refunds on all Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store. Furthermore, it will be refunding all game purchases and pre-orders, including add-on content purchased through the Stadia Store. Unfortunately, it will not be refunding Stadia Pro subscriptions.

Currently, Google does not have plans in place on how the refunds will be processed, but it will be informing affected users through email and updating its support page in the near future. The service will be operational for the time being but will stop working on January 18, 2023. Google hopes that it will have most refunds processed by mid-January 2023. Lastly, members of the Stadia team will be placed in new roles in other parts of the company.


Source: Ubisoft (Twitter) Via: The Verge