Google reassures that your Stadia games won’t go away even if publishers stop supporting it
When you stream movies, TV shows, or music, the actual content isn’t owned by you. This is versus buying your TV shows or movies or music a la carte from services such as iTunes or Google Play where you actually get to keep what you bought. So this actually raises an interesting question regarding game streaming services, such as Google Stadia.
Will the games you buy be yours to keep? Or is it on “loan” where if the developer or publisher stops support Stadia, it will go away?
The good news is that according to an FAQ on Google Support, the company has confirmed that games purchased through Stadia will always remain available to players, even if its developer or publisher later decides that they no longer want to support the platform.
“Yes. Once you purchase the game, you own the right to play it. In the future, it is possible that some games may no longer be available for new purchases, but existing players will still be able to play the game. Outside of unforeseen circumstances, Stadia will aim to keep any previously purchased title available for gameplay.”
Basically, it sounds like as long as Stadia is up and running, all your purchased games will be yours to keep and play with for as long as you want. This actually raises interesting questions regarding digital ownership which can complicate things, where back in the day, there was no question about whether or not you owned a game when you bought its physical copy.
In the meantime, Google has yet to confirm the pricing of Stadia games, but they have suggested that it will most likely be priced similarly to what games are these days.