Google Ships Bluetooth Update For Stadia Controller As The Service Closes This Week

Although the attempt was ambitious to say the least, Google has officially waved the white flag for its video game cloud streaming platform Stadia. Without selling a dedicated console, the tech giant emphasized on delivering AAA experiences through the form of online streaming. However, in late September, the firm shared its service will be shuttered by January 2023.

Additionally, developers for the platform like Bungie, IO Interactive, and Ubisoft did take the opportunity to begin work on cross-platform save for its titles come the ending of Stadia. Even more, one of the few notable exclusives on Stadia – Gylt – is receiving a port to modern hardware slated for 2023 as well, Tequila Works confirms.

This week marks the end of Google Stadia and with that the firm is doing an appreciated sendoff for the service. In that, the dedicated controller will be shuttering its Wi-Fi connectivity feature for the more prominent Bluetooth feature to keep the device in use beyond the service ending. “You can now update your Stadia Controller’s firmware to enable Bluetooth Low Energy connections,” reads the message from community manager ‘DanFromGoogle’.

“Heads up: this update will permanently disable Wi-Fi connectivity, so please wait to update your controller if you want to use it to play wirelessly on Stadia.” According to the support page for the Stadia controller, the Bluetooth update enables support for PC, Android, and iOS. Noted, Google Assistant will still be functioning despite Stadia closing. Howbeit, using a headset requires plugging into the device itself rather than the controller.

In addition, players can pair the Stadia controller with another via a USB cable to play in Tandem mode. “Inputs from both controllers are registered as if they’re coming from your primary Stadia Controller. This means you and a second player can play in a cooperative ‘friend mode’ where you share a game’s inputs.”

Are you planning to update your Stadia controller?

Source: Google