The Google Stadia is officially dead as of 7:00 p.m. yesterday (January 18th at 12:00 a.m. PT).
Stadia was publicly launched back in 2019 with plans to compete with Sony’s PlayStation Now, Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Amazon’s Luna, and Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming.
After four years of service, Stadia Platform Content released Worm Game as not only their lone first-party title, but as the final title to be released on Google Stadia as a little treat to Stadia players.
Worm Game, which was initially an internal-only game used to test the Stadia’s features prior to its launch, included end credits that featured the entire Stadia team. It was the final sign-off from a team that only found out about Stadia’s shutdown 45 minutes before the general public did.
To our players and partners, our team, community and fans: thank you, for everything.
As of 11:59pm PT today, we’re signing off from the cloud. Y’all be good to each other, and stay safe out there.
☁️ 🎮 pic.twitter.com/aCr0gW8IQq
— Stadia ☁️🎮 (@GoogleStadia) January 18, 2023
So now what? Well, refunds have been made, options to move game files to other platforms have been given, and Google has answered Stadia controller owners’ calls for an option to unlock the controllers and make them a standard Bluetooth peripheral.
Stadians, you can now update your Stadia Controller’s firmware to enable Bluetooth Low Energy connections.
Find the update tool here: https://t.co/o0iU2x0NsV pic.twitter.com/SxzUYJyRrh
— Stadia ☁️🎮 (@GoogleStadia) January 17, 2023
This means that Google Stadia’s only piece of hardware doesn’t simply have to exist as a paperweight, which is definitely something fans were worried about. In terms of switching the Google Stadia Controllers to Bluetooth mode, the process is fairly easy to do and is outlined on the Google Stadia controller update website. Once it’s switched, the Google Stadia controller is compatible with the following platforms:
- Windows 10 and 11 + Steam
- MacOS® 13 + Steam
- ChromeOS
- Android
Switching the controller to Bluetooth mode is permanent, but considering the other option is to keep it in Wi-Fi mode for a service that will no longer exist, it doesn’t really matter.
Users will be able to switch their Google Stadia controllers to Bluetooth mode until December 31st, 2023, so if you’ve got a Stadia, I recommend doing it sooner rather than later so you don’t forget.
Vale, Google Stadia. Here’s hoping your “new” Bluetooth controller brings some much-needed joy to the surprisingly passionate Google Stadia community.
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