The fact that Google served us yesterday by acknowledging Stadia’s imminent demise was ultimately as surprising as it was predictable. It’s surprising because no warning signs have sparked the rumours, but it’s also predictable as the platform never achieved the success the Mountain View firm had hoped for. Anyway, subscribers today face a very annoying secondary damage: their controllers are (almost) useless.
Not entirely, of course, because it can always be connected to your PC via USB, Steam supports it. But many prefer to use it on Bluetooth, which the firmware of the controller does not allow. Only Stadia games are compatible with the latter’s wireless mode. Also, in wild hope, gamers gathered on Reddit to ask Google for a final update.
Stadia players hope they don’t have to throw their controllers in the trash
Some on the forum are asking Google to update the controller’s firmware one last time to unlock WiFi and Bluetooth features on other devices. Others still suggest open-source the joystick’s source code so that they can develop the tools necessary to achieve this result. The problem is, according to a user who participated in the discussions, Stadia employees themselves don’t have any information to give on this.
For those who stubbornly refuse to use their wired controller, the only viable option right now is to get rid of it, because “majority of purchased equipment [..] cannot be returned directly from Google”, as the firm explained in their FAQ on Stadia’s shutdown. So let’s hope they don’t have to come to them.
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