Google Stadia: Everything you need to know

990 'Stadia' stories March 2019 - May 2024

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Stadia is a streaming service that leverages Google’s cloud to deliver AAA games online.

Stadia Controllers hanging on a wall

What is Google Stadia?

Stadia was a streaming service that leverages Google’s vast cloud infrastructure to deliver AAA and indie games alike over the web without needing specialized gaming hardware. This ambitious effort follows in the footsteps of the company’s other large platforms: Search, Chrome, and Android. Google hopes to bring this form of entertainment to the next billion gamers by removing various limitations that exist today.

What happened to Google Stadia?

In September 2022, Google announced the closure of its Stadia platform. The cloud gaming platform later shut down on January 19, 2023. Refunds were issued to customers for the cost of games, add-ons, and Stadia hardware such as the Stadia Controller.

This is what the death of Google Stadia actually looked like [Video]

Most games on Stadia were already available on other platforms, and the few Stadia exclusives have mostly expanded to other platforms as well.

In April 2023 it was confirmed that Phil Harrison, the former head of Google Stadia, had left the company.

Former Stadia exclusive Orcs Must Die! 3 is currently free on Epic Games Store

Kyle Bradshaw May 2 2024 - 8:06 am PT

Once upon a time, Google had a cloud gaming platform with a handful of exclusive titles, many (but not all) of which have thankfully reappeared on other platforms. If you never got your chance to play Orcs Must Die! 3 on Google Stadia, you can now pick it up for free on the Epic Games Store.

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Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones directly supports the Google Stadia Controller

Kyle Bradshaw Feb 22 2024 - 12:55 pm PT

While Google Stadia may have shut down, its memory lives on through the official controller and the platform’s avid community. Ubisoft has even seen fit to visually support the Google Stadia Controller in its hotly anticipated high-seas adventure Skull and Bones.

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The Stadia Controller has been reborn as a Nintendo Switch controller

Ben Schoon Jan 25 2024 - 8:50 am PT

Three Stadia Controllers

The whole point of Google Stadia was to play games without requiring expensive hardware, but there was one piece of hardware created for the cloud service. The Stadia Controller hasn’t been on sale for well over a year now, but the design has been reborn as a third-party Nintendo Switch controller.

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Google extends Stadia Controller Bluetooth conversion tool for another year

Ben Schoon Dec 15 2023 - 11:06 am PT

stadia controller bluetooth mode steam

The Google Stadia Controller was pretty much the only piece of consumer hardware that came from the company’s cloud gaming project, but it would have been useless without the platform to go with it. As such, Google opened up a conversion tool that allowed the Stadia Controller to work as a regular Bluetooth controller, and now, it’s leaving that tool open for longer.

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Google toyed with the idea of buying out Epic Games back before Stadia launched

Ben Schoon Nov 21 2023 - 9:42 am PT

The ongoing Epic Games vs. Google trial has revealed a lot of interesting tidbits about the two companies, and now some emails have surfaced in which Google discussed the idea of buying out Epic Games back before Stadia, its now-dead cloud gaming platform, even launched.

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Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle finally escapes the death of Stadia, launching everywhere in 2024

Ben Schoon Oct 10 2023 - 7:04 am PT

Back in 2020, Bandai-Namco teamed up with Google for the launch of Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, a game that would remain exclusive to Stadia right up until the platform shut down earlier this year. Now, the game is finally seeing a launch on other platforms.

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Amazon Luna takes one step closer to Stadia, now lets you buy games

Ben Schoon Oct 6 2023 - 9:57 am PT

Amazon Luna has been struggling to some extent with big library shuffles, but the cloud gaming platform is now introducing a big new feature – the ability to buy games.

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Microsoft has been working on cloud streaming for PC games, as inspired by Stadia

Ben Schoon Sep 19 2023 - 4:30 pm PT

As a part of Google’s attempts to salvage Stadia before its shutdown earlier this year, the company pivoted the service to offer game developers a way to provide demos of their games based on Stadia tech. That white-label service caught the attention of Microsoft, which has been working on the ability to stream PC games through the cloud in the same fashion Stadia was trying to do.

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baldur's gate 3

Microsoft called Baldur’s Gate 3 a ‘second-run Stadia PC RPG’ in leaked emails

Ben Schoon Sep 19 2023 - 1:03 pm PT

Baldur’s Gate 3 graduated from early access recently and became essentially an overnight hit, but when Microsoft was looking at the title for Xbox Game Pass at one point, but the company didn’t seem all that thrilled with it, with execs calling the game a “second-run Stadia PC RPG.”

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Stadia’s death was due to a ‘self-sustaining cycle’ of lacking games and players, lead says

Ben Schoon Sep 18 2023 - 8:11 am PT

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Google Stadia died a few months ago and, while it’s pretty obvious what killed it, newly revealed comments from former product lead Dov Zimring helps shine a spotlight on what ultimately kept the platform from continuing on.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 gets its full release, four years after Stadia first revealed it

Ben Schoon Aug 3 2023 - 1:17 pm PT

Baldur's Gate 3 for Google Stadia

Google Stadia is dead, but there are still things from the platform that we can see down to today. This week marks the full release of Baldur’s Gate 3, a game which was first revealed by Google Stadia.

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Stadia

Gylt, a horror adventure game that died with Stadia, is now back on PC, Xbox, and PS5

Ben Schoon Jul 6 2023 - 10:43 am PT

The first exclusive available on Google Stadia back in 2019 was Gylt, a horror adventure game from Tequila Works, which was actually a ton of fun. But, when Stadia died earlier this year, it took Gylt and some other games with it; but thankfully, Gylt is now back with a release on PC and consoles.

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Google killed Stadia’s AAA game studio and skipped Windows servers over the cost

Ben Schoon Jun 26 2023 - 11:55 am PT

stadia controller

Stadia has been dead for a few months now, but every once in a while, we learn more about the factors that killed it. In a recent hearing, former Google Stadia head Dov Zimring confirmed a few details about why Stadia killed its game studio.

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Microsoft wanted to make Xbox’s cloud gaming more like Google Stadia

Ben Schoon Jun 23 2023 - 8:12 am PT

Xbox and Stadia controllers

Microsoft’s efforts with cloud gaming on Xbox Game Pass have bolstered the entire industry, but they’ve also been quite limited. Apparently, though, Microsoft had much grander plans for cloud gaming, they’re just been shelved for the time being.

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Gylt, Stadia’s first exclusive, arrives on PC and consoles July 6

Ben Schoon May 11 2023 - 8:14 am PT

gylt stadia

Following the death of Google Stadia earlier this year, one of the platform’s very first games was left without a home. Now, though, Gylt is making its way to PC and consoles.

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Stadia

Google Stadia’s first exclusive, Gylt, is coming to Steam [U]

Ben Schoon May 8 2023 - 4:31 pm PT

Following the abrupt shutdown of Google Stadia, there have been a whole lot of questions and not quite enough answers regarding the future of the platform’s few exclusive games. Today, we’re getting confirmation that Google Stadia’s very first exclusive, Gylt, will be ported to other platforms next year.

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Comment: Jedi Survivor’s wild storage requirements remind me why I miss Stadia

Ben Schoon Apr 6 2023 - 9:56 am PT

star wars jedi survivor

As Star Wars: Jedi Survivor kicks off 2023’s season of big game releases, the game’s updated storage requirements on PC are a good reminder of where cloud gaming can be beneficial.

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Google Stadia head Phil Harrison has left the company

Ben Schoon Apr 5 2023 - 8:17 am PT

stadia controller bluetooth mode steam

When Google launched Stadia, it put gaming industry veteran Phil Harrison at the lead. Now, it’s been confirmed Harrison has left the company.

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Netflix seems set to use your phone as a controller for TV games, like Stadia did

Ben Schoon Mar 30 2023 - 10:01 am PT

Netflix is reportedly working on the ability to play games on your TV using your smartphone as a controller, a feature that might feel familiar to former Stadia players.

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Google will shut down the official Stadia Discord server on March 31

Ben Schoon Mar 29 2023 - 2:31 pm PT

It’s been over two months since Google Stadia closed its doors, and now one of the remaining parts of the community, the official Stadia Discord server, is also just days from closing down.

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Google Cloud’s ‘Immersive Stream for Games’ was shut down alongside Stadia

Kyle Bradshaw Mar 8 2023 - 4:02 pm PT

It seems that when Google shut down Stadia for consumers, Google Cloud also formally discontinued its B2B offering, “Immersive Stream for Games.”

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Google Stadia had less than 10% market share among cloud gaming services

Kyle Bradshaw Feb 8 2023 - 4:58 pm PT

Two Stadia Controllers at the Google Store in Chelsea

In new statistics shared by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), we’ve learned that Google Stadia had significantly fewer active users than most other cloud gaming services.

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Stadia ‘found out’ that people who buy $60 games also buy consoles, TakeTwo CEO says

Ben Schoon Feb 7 2023 - 12:10 pm PT

Google Stadia shut down last month after merely three years of availability, and following its closure, the CEO of TakeTwo commented on Stadia’s business model as part of the reason it shut down while also questioning the validity of cloud gaming’s future to some extent.

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Google Stadia Controller in Night Blue

Stadia Controller will be able to work with Nintendo Switch as 8BitDo adapter prepares support

Ben Schoon Feb 3 2023 - 11:45 am PT

As one of its last acts, Google Stadia unlocked support for Bluetooth on the Stadia Controller, and it seems that Nintendo Switch players will soon be able to enjoy that with support for the controller apparently coming to 8BitDo adapters.

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