As a publisher, Ubisoft is all-in on cloud gaming, even if some of its partners aren’t. You can play its biggest titles on Xbox Game Pass streaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Stadia — in fact, Ubisoft was Google’s very first game streaming partner, offering Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for the service’s unnamed beta way back in 2018. Google Stadia is not long for this world, but Ubisoft wants to make sure its players aren’t left in a lurch: it’s offering Stadia players free codes on the PC platform Ubisoft Connect.
Ubisoft took to Twitter (spotted by KitGuru) to announce that it’s planning on offering Stadia players who purchased Ubisoft games replacements for the PC. Details are scarce — we don’t know if games claimed for free as part of the Stadia Pro monthly promotions will count, or if the company is considering offering codes for consoles as well. (After all, part of the appeal of Stadia and other streaming platforms is that you don’t need a powerful gaming PC to play.)
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
Ubisoft says that it will have more to announce later. Presumably the codes will be offered in addition to the full refunds for both Stadia hardware and software, already promised by Google.
The announcement of the Stadia closure has caused a lot of headaches for developers. Hitman maker IO interactive says that it’s “looking into ways for you to continue your Hitman experience on other platforms,” and Muse Games is offering Embr owners Steam codes for those who bought the game on Stadia. Developers of the very few Stadia-exclusive games are in a bit of a lurch. Both Q-Games and Tequila Works, developers of PixelJunk Raiders and Gylt respectively, say they’re looking at options for porting their games to other platforms.
Players aren’t thrilled, either. While Stadia’s userbase wasn’t huge, those that used the service regularly were passionate and aren’t left with an alternative that offers a one-to-one feature replacement. One Red Dead Online player reports that they’ve spent 6,000 hours in the multiplayer game with no clear way to continue their save file once Stadia shuts down in January.
