Even as Stadia itself is on the way out, this excellent controller is just getting started
The final days of Stadia are upon us. Maybe you were convinced from day one that Google’s cloud gaming effort was doomed. Maybe you actually gave it a chance, and even started assembling your own little Stadia Pro library. But whether you counted yourself among the faithful or not, the Stadia party is now over, and we’re under a week away from Google pulling the plug on its servers. For months now, we’ve been curious to learn what would become of all our existing Stadia hardware. Thankfully, Google has finally announced that it plans to upgrade Stadia Controllers with Bluetooth support, letting them operate with all your favorite gaming devices.
While you could play Stadia on your PC with just a keyboard and mouse, and gamers on phones had the option for Stadia touch controls, Google clearly designed its system around the Stadia Controller, which minimized critical lag by connecting directly to the company’s servers over Wi-Fi. You also had the option to connect its USB-C port via cable to your PC, allowing it to act as a regular wired controller. But so far, despite the presence of Bluetooth hardware onboard, there hasn’t been the option to connect the Stadia Controller to other devices using that interface.
Nearly as soon as the death of Stadia was announced, we started hearing theories about what Google might be planning to do with all the hardware now in gamers’ hands, as well as the approach it would take to refunds. The company’s really managed to do an impressive job in terms of the latter, basically giving everyone’s money back for everything except Stadia Pro subscriptions. And some studios have made that deal even sweeter, like Ubisoft, as it offers free PC copies of Stadia games.
So far, Google had largely left the Stadia Controller Bluetooth question an open one, sort of teasing that something might still happen, but failing to actually commit to any outcome. While we still don’t have the full details of how support will ultimately work, at least we can now confirm that it’s coming. The “self-serve tool” Google mentions may involve some sort of firmware upgrade, but we’ll just have to wait for next week to learn precisely how this will take shape.
This is fantastic news for plenty of reasons. Not only will Google help reduce e-waste, but this was a really solid, nice-feeling controller in the first place, and it should be great fun to keep using it with all the compatible systems in our collections. And with how often they were on sale, we wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve got a couple lying around.
Finally, Stadia’s going out with a bang, as the service announces its final game — enjoy it while you can.
