GAME OVER: September 2022

September saw Stadia admit defeat, with Google’s doomed service unable to compete with streaming rival Xbox Game Pass thanks to adopting a business model that had already seen cloud gaming forebears OnLive and Gaikai already stumble into the ethereal abyss.

Impressively, Google has now refunded everyone, but Stadia players are still asking for help getting their (by all accounts decent) controllers to work with their computers to not cause any more unnecessary plastic waste.

Also this month, Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar became the victims of a digital heist of the less fun variety, when a server hack meant that around an hour of GTA VI video footage was posted online.

When gamers guffawed at the unfinished features and artwork of the not-quite upcoming game, the industry came together to show off work-in-progress images and footage of their own since released efforts, suggesting that the old mantra “ready when it’s ready” should probably be pressed back into active service.