Google Stadia Controllers Can Now Connect to Windows, MacOS, and Android Devices
Google has extended the ability to switch Google Stadia controllers from Stadia Wi-Fi mode to Bluetooth mode, allowing them to connect with other devices such as Windows 10, 11, and MacOS 13 PCs with Steam, as well as ChromeOS and Android.
According to the Stadia’s controller webpage, Stadia controllers can now be switched to Bluetooth mode until December 31, 2024. Any controllers that aren’t switched by that time will be unable to make the change and they essentially become dead weight. That’s because Stadia has been shut down, and the ability to switch to Bluetooth mode will disappear.
The original ending date for the Bluetooth mode switch was December 31, 2023, but now Stadia controller owners have gotten a one year-extension to do so. It’s unclear when the end date was updated, but now we at least know.
Google Stadia shut down back in January after three years of trying to be a video game platform competing with PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. Back in 2021, Google also shut down its internal video game studios, signaling the beginning of the end of Stadia.
Google is not even offering Stadia-style streaming services to clients anymore, and so the company has decided not to move forward with Stadia at all in any form. The controller is the last vestige of the failed platform, having the ability to move on as a general Bluetooth controller.