Google is getting ready to shut down Stadia now, their cloud gaming service, but they have some good news for those with the Stadia Controller.
In a post on the Stadia forum, they weirdly put up a new game today called Worm Game. Which it seems you'll be able to play for a few days until Stadia shuts down on January 18. Why the new game? Well, it's what they used to test things:
Play the game that came to Stadia before Stadia came to the world. “Worm Game” is a humble title we used to test many of Stadia’s features, starting well before our 2019 public launch, right through 2022. It won’t win Game of the Year, but the Stadia team spent a LOT of time playing it, and we thought we’d share it with you. Thanks for playing, and for everything.
Anyway, more importantly, the Stadia Controller will have the Bluetooth turned on so the controller now won't be useless without a USB wired in. They said "In addition, many of you have expressed the desire to enable Bluetooth on the Stadia controller. We have some good news: next week we'll be releasing a self-serve tool to enable Bluetooth connections on your Stadia Controller. We'll share details next week on how to enable this feature."
I can imagine this tool will be Windows-only but then perhaps it might even work in Wine.
Still a shame that Stadia is vanishing but Google failed it miserably from being incredibly slow to add simple store features (reminds me of Epic Games…), to the ridiculous business model. Back in November 2021, I even wrote an article titled "Two years on, Stadia seems to have no direction left" and ~10 months later they announced the shut down.
At least they refunded everyone though. I have to give credit where it's due for that.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Mohandevir Jan 13, 2023
StoneColdSpider Jan 13, 2023
Dribbleondo Jan 13, 2023
Had they marketed it towards laptop users, or people who simply don't have good PC's, instead of enticing people with 4K* and general hardcore PC users, then I can at least see them carving a niche. But they didn't market it like that, and we're left with a husk of a service that Google couldn't sell to anyone.
Even the Epic Games Store, a company whose launcher is still not that great (though WAY better than it used to be), has more features, a consistent userbase, and drew people in with various ways; free games that were actually free to keep (a good chunk of them being DRM Free too!), store exclusives that, yes, people hate, but it still made them stand out compared to Stadia.
Not only that, but Google's immediate competition were well-known for making good games; Microsoft's Xbox division, Valve with Source (2) and Steam, Epic with EGS and Unreal Engine 4/5; even the consoles had their benefits. Google bet on cloud streaming for the masses, and lost...hard.
This project was doomed to fail, and was a foregone conclusion six months into its release in my opinion.
I think game streaming like Stadia has a niche; it just needs to be marketed to the right people.
Last edited by Dribbleondo on 13 January 2023 at 9:28 pm UTC
Craggles086 Jan 13, 2023
Hate to say it, but google have a track record here. So they kinda brought it on themselves.
How long did Stadia last, two years? Better then some google projects then.
Last edited by Craggles086 on 13 January 2023 at 11:53 pm UTC
mr-victory Jan 14, 2023
I can imagine this tool will be Windows-only but then perhaps it might even work in Wine.A phone is required instead of PC for initial setup initial firmware update so they may use the phone app for enabling Bluetooth as well.
https://www.lifewire.com/connect-stadia-controller-to-pc-5112074
I was very certain they weren't going to do this, so many companies just flippantly make e-waste without so much as a second thought. I am glad they are taking this step, but worried the motives behind doing such a thing are... Lackluster, likely PR motivated rather than an actual intention to reduce waste.
Probably one or a few very dedicated developers spending some of their 20% time on this.
Last edited by MayeulC on 14 January 2023 at 9:24 am UTC
hardpenguin Jan 16, 2023
I was very certain they weren't going to do this, so many companies just flippantly make e-waste without so much as a second thought. I am glad they are taking this step, but worried the motives behind doing such a thing are... Lackluster, likely PR motivated rather than an actual intention to reduce waste.
Probably one or a few very dedicated developers spending some of their 20% time on this.
Google doesn't have 20% time anymore (Stated in your link).
I was very certain they weren't going to do this, so many companies just flippantly make e-waste without so much as a second thought. I am glad they are taking this step, but worried the motives behind doing such a thing are... Lackluster, likely PR motivated rather than an actual intention to reduce waste.
Probably one or a few very dedicated developers spending some of their 20% time on this.
Google doesn't have 20% time anymore (Stated in your link).
It's a bit more nuanced than that, from what I read. You got the idea, though :)
As I'm curious (and don't have that many contollers), I'm buying one second-hand to try it for myself :)
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me