Stadia was first revealed in early 2019 at that year’s GDC event, and officially launched in November that year. The streaming service had an impressive number of third-party games available, with big names such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Cyberpunk 2077, and Doom Eternal in its library. Google also had big plans for exclusive titles on Stadia and began investing in its own game studios, but by February 2021, it had shut down that division and announced that it would no longer develop its own games.
Following the news of Stadia coming to an end, many users in possession of the service’s controller, took to places like reddit to ask Google for unlocked Bluetooth capabilities. This is something the community has been requesting for years, but now that the service is ending, it would go a long way to making sure the hardware does not become trash for many gamers. The good news is that the Stadia controller works for other platforms like Steam when used wired, so that will always be an option if Google doesn’t unlock wireless capabilities.
Meanwhile over on PlayStation, Sony is preparing to launch PlayStation Stars, a new loyalty program that anybody with a PlayStation account can join. It does not require a PlayStation Plus membership and will first debut in Asia today, September 29, North and South America on October 5, and Europe and Australia on October 13. PlayStation Stars works by rewarding players who complete campaigns and activities like a Monthly Check-in campaign–essentially just playing any game–or earning specific Trophies.
