As Massively Overpowered (opens in new tab) reported, Bethesda and Zenimax Online announced that they will allow Google Stadia players to transfer their characters and progress to the PC version of the game (opens in new tab). Both studios, along with Bungie and IO Interactive, will rescue players from the streaming platform, which is scheduled to close in January.

"We are pleased to share that Stadia players will be able to transfer their ESO accounts to the PC version and bring all of their progress, including but not limited to existing characters, purchased items, achievements, and inventory. Stadia players are already playing ESO on the PC server, so all of their friends and guilds will be waiting for them once the transfer is complete."

This must be a relief to Stadia's ESO players, but coupled with the developer control inherent in live service games and the huge time investment players make in an MMO like ESO, it's really a no-brainer for me.

Some Twitter commenters have lamented the fact that they won't be able to disconnect from their gaming PCs to play the game. While I am not a fan of Stadia's pure streaming model, EVE Online has introduced the EVE Anywhere (open in new tab) feature, which allows subscribed players to stream games or play from local files. I see much promise for this hybrid model in the future.

Fate remains uncertain after the 2k22-23 Stadia debacle: Colour, a streamer who has been playing "Red Dead Online" (open in new tab) for 6,000 hours on Stadia Rocsktar has yet to officially mention the fate of players on this platform. Rocsktar has yet to officially mention the fate of players on this platform. I sympathize with Colour and his fellow Stadia cowpokes. Losing the progress of the game is a root and branch story.