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Stadia may be dead, but the controllers for Google’s cloud-based gaming platform are still here. With the service permanently offline, the proprietary Stadia Controller threatened to fill landfills until Google came up with a plan to turn them into generic Bluetooth devices that could work on just about anything. The app for opening the controller to other devices is a web service that previously had a shutdown date of December 2023. Apparently, that’s not enough time to convert all those controllers, so the Stadia Controller Rescue will run all the extra time. year User X (formerly Twitter). Wario64 was the first to see announcementsays that this online tool will continue to work until December 31, 2024.
As a cloud-based gaming service, Stadia ran all game code on remote servers, with individual video frames being streamed live to the user and displaying gameplay. The user would press buttons on the local controller, and each individual button press would have to travel over the Internet to a remote game server to be processed. These services live and die by latency; to reduce latency, the Stadia Controller connects directly to the Internet via Wi-Fi instead of connecting to your computer via Bluetooth and after to the Internet. Google claimed that a bit of hopping on the local network led to a shorter latency, especially since the service was originally built around a Chromecast dongle with limited power.
With the discontinuation of the service, the Wi-Fi-only controller will not work wirelessly, leaving legacy USB as the only way to use the controller. However, the Stadia Controllers already came with a dormant Bluetooth chip, so Google devised a way to convert the orphaned controllers from Wi-Fi communication to Bluetooth, allowing them to wirelessly connect to computers and phones like a generic HID (Human Interface Device). Normally you’d expect some sort of firmware updater to download, but Google being Google, the Stadia Controller update process happens entirely on its webpage. Google’s controller update page is awesome”WebUSB” API setup – you ignite Chromium browser, connect your controller, give the browser permission to access the device, and the web page can directly access the controller and update the firmware without an installer.
While the web-based updater is very neat, it also means that it is not possible for a third party to archive the updater for future use. No controller updates since Google’s website is down. On the other hand, a desktop application can be kept around and redistributed forever.
Early days of Stadia sales reports said the service was beating Google’s estimate of “hundreds of thousands” of users, so it’s likely there are plenty of controllers out there. Even in 2022 it was normal buying new Stadia Controllers labeled with the original 2019 production date and giving the impression that these things are just restocking warehouses. With the renewal plan still a year away, there is more time for sales to happen and for these controllers to find good homes.
In his review of the Stadia service, Ars Senior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland found the controller to be “one of the highlights of the Stadia launch package,” saying that it “has a solid, well-balanced weight; comfortable, clicky face buttons and analog sticks; D -quality ergonomic design on the pad and shoulder triggers; and powerful, distinctive rumble motors.” So, assuming you can get the $70 MSRP device at a significant discount, it sounds like a decent buy. One downside is that audio features like the headphone jack and microphone won’t work after the Bluetooth update.