Google announced last year that its Stadia service would be phased out on January 18, 2023. This has raised many questions, including what will happen to the Stadia controller, which was linked to the service.
Google has now announced the availability of a self-service tool for customers to enable Bluetooth on the Stadia controller. This was a dormant controller feature that had been disabled in firmware.
Once enabled, the Stadia controller can be used with other devices as a standard Bluetooth controller. This is currently not possible because the Stadia controller was designed to connect to and work directly with the Stadia cloud service. The update should allow Stadia customers to continue using the controller with other devices after January 18, rather than it becoming obsolete.
Google also released one final game — Worm Game — to Stadia users before the service is discontinued on Wednesday. This was a game that the team had been using internally for years to test Stadia’s features. It’s a no-frills, minimal title that would have never seen the light of day if the service hadn’t been shut down, but it’s a cool Easter egg in terms of experiencing the game that was used to test and build the service.