As Stadia prepares to shut down, Ubisoft is giving gamers free copies of their PC games along with their saves. A way not to lose all your progress and to soften the end of the platform.
Players who had given in to Google Stadia’s appeal were more than disappointed by the announcement of the cloud gaming service’s closure, even if the digital giant promised to reimburse them, whether for games or materials purchased. But besides the financial aspect, the players gave a lot of their time in order to progress in the different adventures – sometimes up to 6,000 hours on Red Dead Redemption 2 ! – and worry about losing their backups. Fortunately, the various publishers are flying to the rescue of their communities.
Ubisoft games on Stadia: free copies before closing
This is particularly the case of Ubisoft, which had announced that it was working on a solution. And it seems that he succeeded, as noted by 9to5Google, not via codes, but automatically via Ubisoft Connect, the game distribution platform to publish it! Indeed, according to the first observations, all you have to do is synchronize your Google Stadia and Ubisoft accounts via the application or the website of the cloud gaming service – the process is explained on google support. And in addition, the publisher does not charge any fees, even if Google reimburses the games! As for saves, they are only transferred if the game has cross-progression via Ubisoft Connect. This is particularly the case for games like Immortals Where Assassin’s Creed. On the other hand, you need to have a good PC to be able to run the latest big releases, which was not necessary with cloud gaming.
Ubisoft isn’t the only one trying to save its players’ saves. Indeed, last month, CD Projekt Red wrote that players of Cyberpunk 2077 on Stadia could transfer their saves to PC. Ditto for Bethesda with Elder Scrolls Online – but then you have to own the game. But that’s not the case for everyone. Thus, IO Interactive, the developer of Hitman – World of Assassination, announced that players will soon be able to import their game data into other platforms, including PC, Xbox and PlayStation. It plans to offer a transfer tool a week before Stadia shuts down that will retain the majority of advancements, including “player profile, XP, costumes, items and mastery levels”but not leaderboard positions, saved games, and contracts created.
Google Stadia: players get reimbursed
After announcing the closure of its Stadia cloud gaming service at the end of September, Google began, on November 9, 2022, to take care of the reimbursement of all its players. The process takes a while, and most refunds should be processed by January 18, 2023, the day the servers shut down. As a reminder, when announcing the closure of its cloud gaming platform, Google had undertaken to fully reimburse the purchases of its subscribers, whether in Stadia equipment purchased via the Google store – wireless controllers Stadia Controller, Founder’s Edition Bundle, and More – or games and additional content purchased from the Stadia store. On the other hand, it was necessary to make a cross for the reimbursement of acquisitions made in other stores and on Stadia Pro subscriptions.
Refunds are automatically sent to the payment method used during purchase. If the bank card has expired in the meantime, they are made using the payment method currently active on the player’s Google account. But it may happen that Google fails to perform these operations directly. In this case, the persons concerned are contacted by e-mail with instructions to follow. As for those who have deleted their Google account and no longer have access to the initial means of payment, they must contact the Stadia customer support team. For all players who have made a maximum of 20 transactions in the store of the cloud gaming service, an email is sent to them for each successful refund. Beyond that, they receive a single e-mail summarizing all the reimbursements made. So watch your inbox and bank account carefully! For those who are a bit lost, Google has opened a dedicated FAQ on this subject.
End of Google Stadia: the cloud gaming service will close in 2023
Stadia, the revolutionary video game streaming platform – and sometimes presented as “the Netflix of video games” – is the latest victim to join Google’s abandoned applications and services graveyard. As a reminder, Phil Harrison, the vice-president in charge of the service, announced on September 29 its gradual closure just over three years after its deployment: “While Stadia’s approach to streaming games to consumers was built on a strong technological foundation, [le service] didn’t have the consumer traction we were hoping for so we made the difficult decision to start phasing out the Stadia streaming service.” Google Stadia will end definitively on January 18, 2023. A news which, although a shame, had not surprised many people, given the Internet giant’s lack of communication around its service, and the colossal financial investment that it involved.
As a reminder, Google Stadia is a cloud gaming service, that is to say that the user does not need to have an overpowered machine to play video games. Instead of being installed locally on the PC or console, games are streamed through remote servers. The player only has to interact locally via a device. The streaming service therefore allows you to resume a game in progress from any computer or console, but also on a smartphone or via a Chromecast, the Google accessory to connect your TV. The company offers two formulas. The Stadia Base subscription is free, but you have to pay for the game to play – unless you play free-to-play, like Destiny 2. Stream quality is limited to 1080p. The Stadia Pro subscription, on the other hand, costs €9.99 per month and allows you to enjoy access up to 4K HDR 60 FPS and with 5.1 surround sound. The player has access to free games – much like PlayStation Plus – in addition to the paid catalog.
Google Stadia: the failure of a great ambition
Stadia’s failure isn’t much of a surprise, and despite Google’s denials, many had already predicted its death. Launched in 2019, the service enjoyed ideal conditions, however, with the Covid-19 – which forced people to stay at home for a long time and caused an explosion in online gambling – and the global shortage of semiconductors, which have made next-gen graphics cards and game consoles hard to come by. But, at the time of its launch, Stadia did not deliver on its promises. For example, Google had the ambition to offer instant loading time or the possibility of resuming the game where it had been left off the day before – which is still not the case. Also, the concept and operation of the service was not very clear, and the devices to take advantage of it were limited – although Stadia did open up later. On the other hand, all the improvements made by Google – such as the free plan – have suffered from a major lack of communication.
However, Google had big ambitions and proclaimed them loud and clear. The firm did not hesitate to shell out tens of millions of dollars in the purchase of franchises – as Red Dead Redemption 2 – and even created its own development studio Stadia Games & Entertainment, in order to be able to offer exclusives. But it closed in 2021, forcing the Internet giant to rely solely on third-party publishers. In the end, Stadia was announced as a real revolution in video games, and Google’s overconfidence ended up harming and disappointing it, for lack of broken promises. However, the firm does not seem to want to abandon the video game sector, as evidenced by its projects on a Chromebook dedicated to cloud gaming and on Google Play Games. It also ensures that the technology at the heart of Stadia will be used within other platforms such as YouTube and Google Play, and that “Many members of the Stadia team will continue their work within other divisions of the company.”
