Opposite to what you’ll have heard prior to now few days, Google says it’s not shutting down its Stadia gaming service. The corporate issued the assertion after a rumor started circulating earlier this week that recommended it could sundown the platform later this yr. “Stadia is not shutting down,” the official Stadia Twitter account in a tweet . “Relaxation assured we’re at all times engaged on bringing extra nice video games to the platform and Stadia Professional.”

Some Stadia followers had been satisfied Google would lastly pull the plug on the service after Cody Ogden of Killed by Google fame, a and that retains observe of the corporate’s continuously increasing graveyard, shared a publish from a Fb fan group. Based on the message, an “previous coworker and pal” instructed the poster Google had lately held a gathering to debate Stadia’s future — or lack thereof. They claimed the corporate would shut down the platform by the top of the summer season and would accomplish that utilizing the identical technique it employed with .

On the time, the one commentary Ogden, , provided on the publish was a . Nevertheless, that wasn’t sufficient to cease the rumor from sending a lot of the Stadia neighborhood, , into freefall. To its credit score, Google responded to the episode .

That even a thinly sourced rumor triggered upheaval among the many Stadia neighborhood isn’t stunning. The service has been on an prolonged deathwatch ever since Google . The incident highlights the unhealthy parasocial relationships individuals can typically have with tech corporations like Google. “Communities which might be assured of their continued existence don’t reply like among the issues which were hurled at me in public and in DMs the previous couple days,” Ogden stated after the mud settled. “If even the suggestion {that a} piece of expertise may go away impacts you so deeply that it brings you to threats, perhaps you could reevaluate your relationship with the tech?”