Google Stadia controllers given an extra year before they’re completely useless

Google is extending the deadline to make your ill-fated Google Stadia controller not useless. With the Stadia streaming service now dead and buried, the physical controller needs to be activated as a Bluetooth device.

Google’s “self-serve tool” allows users with a Stadia controller to activate its Bluetooth capabilities and continue using the device on PC and other platforms. However, that service was supposed to be killed at the end of 2023.

Instead of shutting down the service at the proposed time, the Google Stadia self-serve tool has been extended. Google will now grant Stadia controller owners an extra year to turn their devices into something other than e-waste.

Once a Stadia controller is converted to Bluetooth Mode, it cannot be returned back to its original WiFi state. However, with the Stadia service now dead as ditchwater, there’s no reason for the controller’s WiFi mode to be share at all.

Stadia is not the only controller to use a WiFi connection for streaming services. For example, the Amazon Luna controller also has WiFi capabilities, however, it can be switched between its WiFi and Bluetooth modes with a press of two buttons.

Furthermore, Microsoft is seemingly adding WiFi capabilities to future Xbox controllers to help with cloud gaming latency on Xbox Game Pass. Leaked documents reveal that the next Xbox controller will include a number of additional features found in rival devices, including the addition of WiFi connections for games.

In spite of the service’s faults, the Google Stadia controller was a well made device, just one that Google has decided to leave to rot. For those who have yet to convert their devices over to Bluetooth mode, you can do it at this link right here.

While another year has been added to the life span of the Google Stadia controller, not all versions of the device will end up being converted over to Bluetooth mode. As it stands, Google will still be making thousands of devices useless e-waste, filling up the shelves of second-hand tech stores and landfills everywhere.