Not too long ago, Google announced the shutdown of the Stadia cloud gaming service. Games on the service will no longer be playable as of mid-January 2023. Currently, several game companies are scrambling to help users retain their saved data, and now, we have received an update regarding the refund process for users who purchased the service.
In a recent addendum to the FAQ, Google announced that Stadia refunds have begun to roll out starting today (November 9). According to the announcement, Stadia will attempt to automatically process refunds for all purchases of games, add-on content, and subscription fees other than Stadia Pro made through the Stadia Store.
Customers who have made 20 or fewer purchases in the store will receive one email for each transaction made as the refunds are processed. Meanwhile, users who have made 21 or more purchases on the Stadia store will receive one email summarizing all refund attempts. If necessary, this email will provide instructions on additional steps needed to help in the refund process.
This process will take a while; Google expects that most refunds will be processed by January 18, 2023. The process will also help users who even deleted their Google accounts. This also includes hardware refunds.
As for what types of purchases will be included in the refund process, Google clarified that they'd be offering refunds for all Stadia hardware purchases (Controller, Founder's Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV packages) made through the Google Store and software transactions (games and add-on purchases) through the Stadia store.
Unfortunately, Google Stadia Pro subscriptions are not refundable. However, you will be able to continue playing your games in Pro without further charges until the final wind-down date. Players who held an active Stadia Pro subscription as of September 29, 2022, will not be charged for access to their Pro library or other subscription entitlements during the shut-down period.
Google Stadia will shut down operations on January 18, 2023.
