Google has announced that its cloud streaming service Stadia will officially be shut down on January 18, 2023. All Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store will be refunded, including games and add-on content purchased from that storefront.

"A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia," Stadia VP Phil Harrison wrote in a blog post. "And while Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected so we've made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service."

Though Stadia as a gaming platform will be retired next year, Harrison added that the technology pioneered by the service will be used in other Google services such as YouTube, Google Play, and Augmented Reality projects. The company also plans to make the underlying technology available to industry partners, which "aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed" Harrison explained.