Ubisoft, Bungie, and IO Interactive are among the many game developers who are now working on backup plans following Google’s announcement that it will be canceling its Stadia cloud gaming service in January 2023. Apparently, little or no advance notice was given to developers with games on Stadia and they are, for now, left to scramble to put plans in place for users who purchased games on the service.
Ubisoft has said that it is working on migrating games purchased on Stadia to its own platform Ubisoft Connect. They seem to be one of the more fortunate ones in having an in-house alternative to work with.
While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we’re happy to share that we’re 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.
— Ubisoft Support (@UbisoftSupport) September 30, 2022
Bungie has stated that it is still creating a plan of action for Destiny 2 players.
Bungie has “begun conversations about next steps” for #Destiny2 players on Google Stadia. Stay tuned for more updates. pic.twitter.com/3f8aGgtQOM
— Destiny Bulletin (@DestinyBulletn) September 29, 2022
IO Interactive is also now seeking a solution for helping players of its HITMAN franchise.
To all our HITMAN fans on Google Stadia.
— IO Interactive (@IOInteractive) September 30, 2022
We hear you – we are looking into ways for you to continue your HITMAN experience on other platforms. pic.twitter.com/7VZsDQAMkC
Little or no notice given
While Ubisoft, Bungie, and IO Interactive may have more resources to rebound with there are other game developers who do not and said they never got any notice from Google regarding Stadia’s demise. One said he found out via press coverage.
Every time something bad happens in games. The people affected, sometimes having their lives turned upside down, learn from the press or Twitter.
— Simon Roth (@SimoRoth) September 29, 2022
No emails, phone calls, no heads up, no note on the website. https://t.co/kqs7fc7BAh
It seems that developers were not the only ones left in the dark as someone also leaked an allegedly confidential internal email from Google to its Stadia team. The email was said to have been sent a mere 3 hours prior to the public announcement. The contents of the email were short and only requested staff to attend a virtual meeting. Numerous other developers have expressed their shock as well regarding the lack of notice since they have games launching in the coming days and weeks, and are now left to fend for themselves. They too only found out via news stories on the internet.
Tangle Tower was due to launch on Stadia in 2 days time, and this article was the first I heard about it shutting down 😢 https://t.co/Pu0UPTQlRn
— Tom Vian (@SFBTom) September 29, 2022
As of yet, Google has not provided a comment regarding the plight of these game developers nor said if it will be providing an exit strategy for them. One thing that is certain though is that if Google does ever try to bring about another gaming service it will have to work hard to regain the trust of game developers.
Source: VGC