Ubisoft, Bungie, and others are working on letting players transfer Google Stadia saves.
After the unexpected shutdown of Google Stadia, developers from across the industry are trying to help players by allowing them to transfer game saves to other platforms.
“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,” said Ubisoft. “We’ll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.”
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
Google Stadia unexpectedly announced yesterday that it’s shutting down on January 18, 2023. Additionally, Google will be refunding all hardware and game purchases made through the service.
“We’re grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start,” said Google. “We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia Store.”
The video game streaming service didn’t exactly prove popular among gamers, but with players putting in hundreds or even thousands of hours into their favorite games on the platform, developers are keen not to leave them hung out to dry.
“We just learned about Stadia shutting down and have begun conversations about next steps for our players,” said Destiny 2 developers, Bungie. “We will announce and send out information regarding Destiny 2 Stadia accounts once we have a plan of action.”
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
Hitman developer IO Interactive is also working on a solution for its players.
“To all our HITMAN fans on Google Stadia,” they said. “We hear you – we are looking into ways for you to continue your HITMAN experience on other platforms.”
To all our HITMAN fans on Google Stadia.
We hear you – we are looking into ways for you to continue your HITMAN experience on other platforms. pic.twitter.com/7VZsDQAMkC
— IO Interactive (@IOInteractive) September 30, 2022
The quick response of developers to this unexpected issue sure is commendable, but will likely mean additional development time to implement a solution. Whether or not this has a knock-on effect on any of their upcoming updates or DLCs remains to be seen.
Still, it’s a lovely response that might just help Stadia players not lose countless hours of playtime in their favorite games.
Want to read more about Google Stadia? Check out Google’s test, launching streaming games direct from the search results, and find out how much Google paid to get Red Redemption 2 on the Stadia.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.