Customers paid full price for Google Stadia games and hardware. So rather than simply closing its servers and taking customers’ money along with it, Google is giving full refunds for Google Stadia purchases. Here is how you can get your hands on your refund and what exactly you can get your money back for.
What Type of Google Stadia Purchases Will Be Refunded?
There are many reasons why Google pulled the plug on Stadia. But the service wasn’t cheap, and customers will get their money back for selected purchases.
Google Stadia charged customers for hardware, games, add-ons such as DLC and in-game currency, and a Stadia Pro subscription fee. You will be able to receive refunds for everything except the subscription fee for Stadia Pro.
This means that you can get your money back for any game, DLC, or in-game currency you purchased on Google Stadia, as well as the hardware itself. But there is a catch.
Refunds will only be provided for purchases that went through the Google store or the Stadia store. So if you happened to purchase your Stadia hardware from a physical retailer such as Best Buy or Target, you are out of luck.
There are two physical Google stores in New York, however, so if you purchased your hardware there, then you will still receive your refund.
How Do I Get My Google Stadia Refund?
You don’t need to do anything to receive your Google Stadia refund. Your money for any eligible purchases should be automatically transferred into the account you made the purchase with.
This is extremely convenient for some customers. But three years is a long time, and there is a good chance that you may no longer have access to the account you made your original purchase with.
When Can I Expect My Google Stadia Refund?
Google plans to have most of its refunds completed by the time Stadia closes down in January. As of November 9th, 2022, Google started sending out emails to customers who are eligible for refunds on games and/or add-on purchases. You can expect to receive your refund within 10-15 business days of receiving your email.
If you made 20 or fewer game-related purchases with Google Stadia, you will receive an individual email for each purchase. If you made over 20 game-related purchases, Google will wait and send out one email containing the details of all your purchases.
Google is yet to announce more information regarding the refunds on Google Stadia hardware.
Google Is Sure to Earn Some Trust Back by Refunding Google Stadia Purchases
It was a long and hard road for Google Stadia. But it is uncommon for companies to refund customers in cases like these, so this move is sure to earn back some brownie points for Google.
The issue of servers closing down and taking access to games away from customers who have paid to experience them is something that is becoming more of a risk as cloud gaming gains popularity. It will be interesting seeing how companies deal with this issue in the future.
