Google will begin issuing refunds to Google Stadia customers amid the imminent shutdown of the game streaming platform. The Silicon Valley tech giant said on Stadia’s support page that starting November 9, it will automatically attempt to process refunds for every purchase, including games, DLC, hardware such as the Stadia controller, and subscription fees other than Stadia Pro.
Stadia customers who made fewer than 20 purchases will receive one email notification of a refund for each transaction. Stadia customers with 21 purchases or more will get a single email summarizing all of the refund attempts, including instructions on potential additional steps needed to complete the refund.
The refunds will be sent to the original method of payment used at the time of purchase for games or other Stadia merchandise. If you get an email saying the refund was issued but the payment method you used is no longer active and haven’t received instructions on what to do, Google suggests contacting your bank or credit card company to discuss how to receive the refund. If you deleted your Google account and the same thing happens, you’ll have to contact Stadia Customer Service and provide the email connected to the deleted account, your last purchase date, and the amount you paid.
On September 29, Google announced that Stadia will be shut down on January 18, 2023, with Stadia Vice President Phil Harrison citing the platform not gaining enough popularity with users since its launch in 2019. Players will still have access to their games library between now and mid-January, and can keep their Stadia controllers.
Google said most of the refunds will be processed by the time Stadia’s servers shut down on January 18, and has warned customers not to contact Customer Service to expedite their refund. You can visit Google’s payment center to track your refund.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.