Google is shutting down Stadia after just three years.

The tech giant's cloud gaming service will be no more after struggling to gain "the traction" with gamers it had hoped.

In a new blog post, Stadia's Vice President and General Manager, Phil Harrison, said: "For many years, Google has invested across multiple aspects of the gaming industry. We help developers build and distribute gaming apps on Google Play and Google Play Games. Gaming creators are reaching audiences around the world on YouTube through videos, live streaming and Shorts. And our cloud streaming technology delivers immersive gameplay at massive scale.

"A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. And while Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service."

Refunds will be given to "all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store."

Access to the games library and play will continue until January 18, 2023.

The technology is, however, going to be used elsewhere, on YouTube, Google Play, and AR products.

Harrison added: "For the Stadia team, building and supporting Stadia from the ground up has been fueled by the same passion for games that our players have. Many of the Stadia team members will be carrying this work forward in other parts of the company. We’re so grateful for the groundbreaking work of the team and we look forward to continuing to have an impact across gaming and other industries using the foundational Stadia streaming technology."