Google has recently started to refund those who bought Stadia-related hardware, but there’s no use getting too happy just yet. Only those who purchased the hardware via the Google Store can be qualified for a refund. In other words, you can’t get a refund if you’ve bought your Stadia hardware from Best Buy or other sources from the internet.
The big news comes from a post made on Twitter by Google itself, so there’s no room for doubts. The post reads:
Heads up, Stadians: Refunds for Stadia hardware purchases made on the Google Store will be processed starting today – be sure to check your email if you’re anticipating a refund.
Heads up, Stadians: Refunds for Stadia hardware purchases made on the Google Store will be processed starting today – be sure to check your email if you're anticipating a refund.
For more info: https://t.co/gqAZnNqCId
— Stadia ☁️🎮 (@GoogleStadia) November 30, 2022
Refunds for games, subscription fees, as well as add-on content have already started for almost a month, which is confirmation that Google is going all out with the refunding business. The Mountain View-based tech colossus has already let everybody know about its plans to put an end to the Stadia service, which means that the refunds shouldn’t take anyone by surprise.
Here’s an important quote from Google’s support page:
Starting November 9, 2022, Stadia will attempt to automatically process refunds for all purchases of games, add-on content and subscriptions fees other than Stadia Pro made through the Stadia Store. We ask for your patience as we work through each transaction and ask that you refrain from contacting Customer Support as they will not be able to expedite your refund during this time. We still expect the majority of refunds to be processed by January 18th, 2023.
The Google Stadia cloud gaming service was released publicly in November 2019 after it debuted through a closed beta back in late 2018. A total number of 235,000 users were active on Google Stadia. The number surely isn’t too impressive, and it could have been a lot more imposing if time was on Google’s side.