Google Stadia Disaster Gets Worse When Games Are Cancelled

Google Stadia Disaster Gets Worse When Games Are Cancelled

Google Stadia's loss of Terraria is more bad news for the platform. The accounts of the game's co-creators have been locked.

Andrew Spinks, one of Terraria's developers, explained in a series of Twitter posts that his Google account was unexpectedly locked. This revoked his Gmail account and access to everything he had purchased in the Android Marketplace.

Spinks claims that he attempted to contact Google customer support, but the problem was not resolved. He decided to remove Terraria from the platform given that he was unable to regain access. He also announced that future games from his studio, Re-Logic, would not appear on Stadia.

In a tweet, Spinks said, "I absolutely did not violate your terms of service. Consider yourself burned." Spinks also said, "My dealings with you are a liability."

This is in sharp contrast to Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, which have gone to great lengths to lock in valuable partnerships with independent developers. If this same situation had occurred at Xbox, for example, Xbox head Phil Spencer would likely have been involved, as he has been very active on Twitter.

To expand the scope, this is what Spinks was locked out of:

"My phone can no longer access thousands of dollars worth of apps on @GooglePlay, I just bought LOTR 4K and can't watch to the end. googledrive My data is completely gone. can't access my YouTube channel. Worst of all, I no longer have access to my @gmail address that I have used for over 15 years."

It remains unclear why Google locked Spinks' account. At the time of this report, the stadium has not issued an official statement from any of its social media accounts. Nor has it directly replied to Spinks' tweets; the GoogleStadia account was responding to someone's attack on Google's poor customer service.

For Stadia, the past few weeks have been particularly bad news. Last week, the company announced that it was closing its in-house game studio and that Jade Raymond, developer of the Assassin's Creed franchise, was leaving the company, not because Stadia is bad service, but because the company's customer service has been poor. In fact, many feel it is the best place to play cyberpunk 2077.

Terraria will not be on Stadia, but it will be playable on a variety of platforms. These include: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, PS Vita, PS3, Wii U, Android, Amazon, iOS, Windows Phone, and 3DS.

Terraria is a Minecraft-like sandbox game released in 2011. Players build, explore, craft, and fight in both single-player and multiplayer modes. The game has about 700,000 members in its subreddit and has received a high score of 83 on Metacritic.

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