Stadia is officially going offline, but at least users can update their Stadia controller to enable Bluetooth and keep playing elsewhere.
A few hours ago, Google released the Bluetooth update for the Stadia controller. As you might recall, the gamepad used a proprietary Wi-Fi technology that Google said would reduce input lag by connecting directly to the servers. This meant you could only use the Stadia controller on other devices with a USB cable. However, with the cloud gaming service officially going offline today, Google decided to throw a bone at its former customers and release a firmware update that replaces the proprietary Wi-Fi tech with the widespread Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard, allowing users to play wirelessly with the Stadia controller on other devices.
Google notes that you have until December 31st, 2023 to update your gamepad.
