Google starts paying refunds to thousands of users — and some are getting more than expected

GOOGLE has started issuing refunds to users of its fancy gaming gadget Stadia, which will be shutting down next year.

The tech giant has promised to give disappointed players their money back on certain purchases – but it seems some got more than they bargained for.

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Stadia was supposed to be Google’s massive move towards streaming gaming when it launched in November 2019.

All users needed was a Chromecast hooked up to their TV and a Stadia controller, which cost around £90.

Google has reportedly spent millions to onboard big-name titles.

But it never really took off and players complained about connection problems.

The company announced it would abandon the idea in September and said it would issue refunds on kits purchased as it would become unusable once everything shuts down on January 18, 2023.

Google told gamers they would return money for any Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store, including Stadia Controller, Founder’s Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV bundles.

They also said that refunds would be given for all games and add-on purchases made through the Stadia Store.

However, players were warned that they would not receive a refund for their monthly Stadia Pro subscription, which was required to access the service.

Despite this, some users have reported that they still received a bonus refund for their subscription.

A user on Reddit shared a screenshot showing his monthly subscription cost of £8.99 paid back over nine months, totaling more than £80.

“This follows the emails I received yesterday regarding the cancellation of my Pro subscription and contradicts the official press release stating that the Pro subscription will not be refunded,” said the UK Stadia player.

Another added: “I’m in the UK, I also got the same emails yesterday and received the Pro subscription refunds this morning.”

But not everyone was so lucky.

“In the UK I’ve had 2 refunds out of 4 games purchased (the 2 first games I bought they emailed me about 5 days ago), no hardware or pro sub refunds yet,” commented a third party.

Corresponding 9to5Googlethe extra refunds were a mistake.

But the report claims that lucky users who got more than expected won’t be asked to return the money.

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