Google Calls it Quits on Game Streaming, Shutting Down Stadia

[cvaldes]

Yeah, it's nice, but... Bluetooth support got enabled just now? It had it all along? What for?

When the Stadia Controller released, it was noted that the device had a hardware support for Bluetooth but Google chose not to enable it.

I never bothered to hunt down the specifics myself but clearly Google selected a wireless chip that had dual support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I assumed this was commonplace for this category of device.

I was aware of the disabled Bluetooth when I bought the Stadia hardware.

 

[trsttte]

They might have chosen to disable it to avoid people seeing the higher latency when using Stadia on PC that would make for bad publicity. Either that or pure lazyness

 

[bug]

They might have chosen to disable it to avoid people seeing the higher latency when using Stadia on PC that would make for bad publicity. Either that or pure lazyness

I don't know why Google disabled support, but it wasn't necessarily laziness. Having just one way of connecting makes devices simpler, thus easier to use. This means fewer calls to tech support, thus cheaper to support. Plus BT is inferior to WiFi in pretty much every way. Save maybe for power draw.

 

[cvaldes]

Google never disabled Bluetooth support in the Stadia controller. They never enabled in the first place because it connects to the Stadia servers via Wi-Fi to decrease latency.

Remember that just because a piece of silicon has ____ functionality doesn't automatically mean that functionality needs to be employed.

iPhones (and iPod touches) have FM radio circuitry but Apple never enabled it.

More than anything, I'm more surprised that Stadia engineers bothered to put in the supporting hardware for Bluetooth support (presumably some RF filters, maybe an amplifier, and an antenna).

 

[cvaldes]

As promised, Google has unlocked Bluetooth functionality for its Stadia controller:

Stadia Bluetooth mode

Switch your Stadia Controller to Bluetooth mode to keep gaming wirelessly on your favorite devices and services after Stadia shuts down

stadia.google.com

This article from WindowsCentral has some other pertinent information:

Bluetooth support for Google Stadia Controller arrives — Here's how to enable it and play PC games

Google's last hurrah for fans of its cloud gaming platform.

www.windowscentral.com

The update disables the controller's Wi-Fi and switches to Bluetooth. This update is permanent and apparently cannot be reversed. I went through the process myself, took no more than a couple of minutes.

To recap, the Google Stadia gaming servers will be taken offline tonight at 11:59pm PST. The Bluetooth controller update tool will purportedly remain online through the end of 2023. The Stadia gamepad remains a useful gaming device in wired mode too.