Google will give you another year, again, to make the Stadia Controller useful

Ben Schoon | Dec 9 2024 - 9:15 am PT

It’s been almost two years since Google shut down its Stadia platform, taking with it the purpose the Stadia Controller. However, a conversion tool allowed that excellent hardware to continue to be useful, and now Google has extended the life of that tool for another year.

The Stadia Controller launched alongside the cloud gaming platform back in 2019. The controller was designed to communicate directly with Google’s servers through its own Wi-Fi connection rather than connecting to the device that was displaying the actual game. In theory, that was supposed to cut down on input latency. Whether or not it accomplished that goal will depend on who you ask, but Google’s controller was pretty widely praised for its hardware, which was comfortable and easy to use.

When Stadia died, though, the Stadia Controller was effectively left useless.

That was, until Google released a conversion tool that allowed users to convert their Stadia Controller from a Wi-Fi controller to one that could be used wirelessly over Bluetooth with phones, tablets, computers, and more. The tool was originally only supposed to be available for a year, set to shut down at the end of 2023. Google later confirmed that the tool would be available through the end of 2024.

Now, it’s been extended for another year.

As highlighted by Wario64 on Twitter/X, Google has quietly updated the Stadia Controller conversion tool website to extend the deadline through the end of 2025. This gives anyone who still has the Stadia Controller sitting around to still be able to convert it to Bluetooth, as well as leaving the product as a cheap alternative to other controllers thanks to this conversion option, as used or even unopened Stadia Controllers are still pretty easy to find.

Here’s how the Stadia Controller works with Bluetooth

It remains a bit confusing why Google has a deadline on this tool in the first place, seeing as it is effectively just a web app, but it’s nice to see the company not abandoning these controllers.

Notably, the website also has an option to “update” controllers that have been converted to “Bluetooth mode,” but no updates have been provided over the past two years since the tool launched.