Your Google Stadia controller won’t be a paperweight after the service shuts down

Google is giving Stadia users some consolation prizes before the game streaming service shuts down on January 18th. To start, it's planning to release a tool that will enable Bluetooth support on the Stadia controller. You'll have to wait until next week to download it, but this should make the device useful for just about any title that has gamepad support, so long as the platform recognizes the hardware in the first place.

The company has also released a Snake clone, Worm Game, as a final "thanks" to users. It's a simple project the Stadia team has been using for testing since before launch, but it might be worth a try if you want to give the service a proper sendoff.

You're out of luck if you played Destiny 2 on Stadia, however. Bungie has already shut down Destiny 2's Stadia servers, and is giving gamers until January 18th to activate Cross Save and migrate their characters elsewhere. The developer also warns that you shouldn't disable Cross Save after the 18th "for any reason" as long as Stadia is your primary account.

These last-minute announcements likely won't come as a shock. Google announced its shutdown plans in September, and started issuing refunds in November. Other game studios have also been helping with the transition for weeks. IO Interactive recently released a promised Progression Carryover tool for Hitman players, while Ubisoft is offering free PC copies of games purchased through Stadia. If you hadn't already made the leap, you were probably getting ready for it.

The technology behind Stadia will live on after it and Worm Game are just memories. On top of the controller update, Google's Immersive Stream for Games makes the cloud functionality available to other companies. Still, it's a bittersweet moment — the news is a reminder that Google's most ambitious gaming initiative is nearly at an end.