Google Stadia disaster gets worse as game gets cancelled

Google Stadia
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

It's more bad news for Google Stadia as the platform has lost Terraria. This comes after the company locked all the accounts of the game's co-creator. 

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

Spinks claims that he attempted to contact Google customer support, but the issue was never resolved. Given that he was unable to get access back, he's decided to remove Terraria from the platform. He also announced that future games from his studio, Re-Logic, would not be coming to Stadia. 

In his tweet, Spinks claims, "I absolutely have not done anything to violate your terms of service, so I can take this no other way than you deciding to burn this bridge. Consider it burned." Spinks also said "doing business with you is a liability."

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This is in major contrast to Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, which have made great efforts to lock in valuable partnerships with independent developers. If a similar situation like this were to have occurred at Xbox, for example, it's likely that Xbox head Phil Spencer would have gotten involved as he's very active on Twitter. 

To put it into scope, this is what Spinks has been locked out of:

"My phone has lost access to thousands of dollars of apps on @GooglePlay. I had just bought LOTR 4K and can't finish it. My @googledrive data is completely gone. I can't access my @YouTube channel. The worst of all is losing access to my @gmail address of over 15 years."

As to why Google may have locked Spinks' account remains uncertain. As of this reporting, Stadia has not made an official statement from any of its social media accounts. It also hasn't replied to Spinks' tweet directly. The @GoogleStadia account did respond to someone's attack regarding Google's poor customer service. 

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It's been a particularly bad few weeks for Stadia in terms of news. Last week the company announced it was shutting down its internal game studios and that Jade Raymond, the mind behind the Assassin's Creed franchise, would be leaving. And it's not because Stadia is a bad service. Many actually feel it may be the best place to play Cyberpunk 2077

While Terraria will not be coming to Stadia, it is available on a wide array 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. It has players building, exploring, crafting and engaging in combat in both single-player and multiplayer modes. It continues to have an active fanbase with almost 700k members on the game's subreddit and a respectable 83 on Metacritic

Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.