The clock keeps ticking. As we already told you in September, Google Stadia will close its doors next january 18in less than a month. At that point Google will “shut down” the servers (I’m putting it in quotes because it will actually, and in all probability, be reassigning those machines to other functions) and, mind you, all your content will be lost… yes, like tears in rain. We are not going to go back into the analysis of what happened, since we have already done it on previous occasions, now (since September, actually) is the time to try to reduce the impact of this closure among service users.
In this regard, and from the outset, Google has committed to a really generous refund policy, since not only are the amounts paid for the games returned, but also the purchases of hardware related to the service and that will not be to return, such as the Stadia controller and the Chromecasts that were included in some special packs, such as the one offered by the company at the launch of Cyberpunk 2077.
A few weeks ago, Google started the refunds, and even returned, in this case by mistake, some fees paid for Stadia Pro, the service’s subscription mode. And we also know that they are working to make the Bluetooth connectivity of the controls usable with other applications and services. Something that all users who have one fervently desire, since it really is a very good controller, which does not deserve to end up as a paperweight.
Now, it seems that not all developers and distributors are acting in the same way. As we can read in The Verge, Ubisosft, without prior notice, has started transferring titles from Google Stadia to Ubisoft+, the subscription service of the French developer and distributor. What has not been clarified, at least for the moment, is whether only the “ownership” of the games has been transferred, or if it has also been possible to transfer all the content associated with them, mainly the saved games.
This migration has not been massive either, at least for now, something that we can associate with whether or not users had their Stadia and Ubisoft+ accounts connected, and it seems that it does not affect all the Ubisoft titles that were present in the game either. Stadia catalogue. Thus, in the absence of communication in this regard from Google, Ubisoft or both, it seems that this transfer system should be in the testing phase. Now, and since users who have seen the titles appear in their Ubisoft+ accounts have not received refunds for their purchases, it seems likely that in this case Ubisoft has chosen to provide access to the game, avoiding Google having to transfer the amount of their purchases to the players.
