Ubisoft, Cyberpunk, and Destiny 2 players await ‘next steps’ with Stadia shutdown

Some major publishers who took a gamble on Google’s soon-to-be-defunct Stadia have sent signs to players that they’re trying to bring the games, or at least their game saves, to other platforms.

Over the weekend, Ubisoft customer support’s official Twitter account said “we’re working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect,” the publisher’s first-party games launcher. Io Interactive, makers of the Hitman franchise, say they’re also “looking for ways to continue your Hitman experience on other platforms.”

Ubisoft has 38 games, the most of any publisher, available on Google Stadia. When Stadia’s servers go offline Jan. 18, 2023, players lose access to them. Google is offering refunds for all games software — meaning both games and add-on content — bought for Stadia, as well as any hardware purchases (the Stadia Controller was offered stand-alone and in three bundles). The Stadia Store and all in-game transactions were closed with Google’s announcement on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Cyberpunk 2077 players — it was a launch title on Stadia in December 2020 — have begun agitating with CD Projekt to see if their game saves can be transferred from Stadia to another platform. “I care more about my save game than a game refund,” one Cyberpunk fan posted to Stadia’s subreddit.

As for Destiny 2, the independent Destiny Bulletin account on Twitter posted a screenshot of a message with Bungie’s help desk, in which the studio says it has “begun conversations about next steps for our players.” Bungie will have more to announce “once we have a plan of action.” Destiny 2 already supported cross-platform character transfers with Google Stadia.

Also on Friday, Raúl Rubio Munárriz, the chief executive of Tequila Works, said his studio’s Stadia exclusive, Gylt, would be ported to other platforms.

In all, nearly 300 games were available on Stadia, either sold individually or made available as part of the Stadia Pro subscription, beginning with Gylt, Destiny 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and nine other titles on Stadia’s November 2019 launch.