How Google Stadia developers are making the platform’s shutdown easier on gamers
Stadia’s upcoming shutdown announcementtook us all by surprise, but none more so than game developers. Those working on Stadia games were given no warning of the shutdown, leaving the fate of many projects uncertain. Some developers were forced to cancel their projects outright, while others are scrambling to ensure players don’t lose access to in-game progress.
So what’s happening to your favorite game? Let’s see.
Stadia refunds will be available at some point
Cloud-gaming platforms like Stadia allow people to play games without owning powerful hardware. However, Stadia’s shutdown puts those that purchased Google’s cloud games in a sticky situation. Despite some developers offering free copies of their Stadia games on PC, many people won’t be able to run them.
Fortunately,Google is offering full Stadia refundson hardware and software purchases. You won’t need to do anything yourself; keep an eye out for an email.
What’s happening with Stadia’s exclusive games
Many Stadia exclusiveswill inevitably be discontinuedwhen the platform shuts down on January 18. These shutdowns potentially include:
However, there’s one bright spark, Gylt, the first Stadia exclusive, will begoing multi-platform in 2023. While there’s no confirmation on what platforms we can expect to see the game on, we’re glad to hear that not every Stadia exclusive may disappear outright.
Many Stadia game developers will help to ease the shutdown process
Ubisoft games
While there’s no exact timeframe for the process, the Verge has reported Ubisoft is working onbringing all of its games that Stadia players own to PCthrough Ubisoft Connect.
Elder Scrolls Online
As reported by 9to5Google,Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) players will suffer no interruption to their accounts. Bethesda is gifting a free PC/Mac copy of the game to all Stadia Players, and as cross-play between Stadia and PC already existed, all account progress will be preserved. Stadia ESO players should have already received an email about transferring their saved data.
Cyberpunk 2077
The good news is that Cyberpunk 2077 players won’t lose their progress. The bad news is that it’s not a simple process. Asreported by Polygon, players will have to use Google Takeout to download their save files to a PC.Instructions can be found on the developer’s website. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like CDProjektRed is offering free copies of Cyberpunk 2077 on other platforms, but you may still use your Stadia refund to repurchase it.
Destiny 2 and Hitman
Some games' futures are more nebulous. As reported by Eurogamer, Bungie and IO Interactive (Developers of Destiny 2 and Hitman, respectively) arelooking into transferring player progress to other platforms. No timeframe has been provided, so we recommend keeping an eye on the Twitter accounts forBungieandIO Interactivefor more news.
Epistory and Nanotale
Fishing Cactus, the studio behind Epistory and Nanotale, isoffering free Steam codes for their Stadia games. Email them atepistory@fishingcactus.com with proof of ownership to claim you code.
Asreported by 9to5Google, Embr’s developers are handing out free Steam codes. Email feedback@musegames.com with a screenshot of Embr in your Stadia library and your Steam wishlist to receive your free key. It’s slightly inconvenient but nowhere near as bad as Cyberpunk 2077. (Note that you don’t need to join their Discord server to get your key)
Not sure what will happen with your favorite Stadia game?
As mentioned earlier,Google is offering full refundsfor all Stadia purchases. If your favorite Stadia game isn’t offering free copies, you can use the money refunded by Google to repurchase a replacement on another platform. Unfortunately, not all games support save data transfers, so if there isn’t a way to transfer saved data by the shutdown date, you will lose that progress.
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