December 31st, 2025 is the deadline to save the Google Stadia controller. That’s less than three weeks from today — but there’s never been a better time. Last month, I discovered the controller is finally a first-class citizen in Steam and SteamOS.
The Stadia controller was originally designed to connect to your Wi-Fi network and remotely control games from Google’s cloud servers. But when Stadia shut down in January 2023, the company did an amazing job shutting down the service: it offered full hardware refunds and let you rescue the Stadia Controller by turning it into a generic Bluetooth gamepad instead.
When I flew to Valve headquarters in late October to see the Steam Machine, I asked Pierre-Loup Griffais if Steam would ever fully support the Stadia controller the way it’s supported so many other gamepads, letting you turn each of its buttons and joysticks into fully customizable control schemes. At the time, he said he thought the Xbox One wireless adapter might be a higher priority than Google’s abandoned controller.
So you can imagine my surprise to find Steam not only supports the Stadia gamepad now, it’s made every button useful. That Google Assistant key is now a freely programmable M1 macro button! Google’s screenshot button takes screenshots in SteamOS! The Stadia button is now effectively an Xbox button, letting you activate many (not all) of the Steam Deck’s handiest shortcuts, including Stadia+A to pull up the quick access menu, Stadia+Right Stick to summon a mouse cursor, and Stadia+Left Stick to adjust the volume or brightness.
On a desktop, the Stadia button can additionally launch Steam’s Big Picture Mode.
It’s certainly not the best gamepad you can buy for Steam. (This one’s currently my fav.) The Stadia Controller never offered gyro or back buttons, and while I see an “Allow this device to wake Steam Deck” option in the SteamOS Bluetooth menu, it doesn’t seem to work properly. The controller also doesn’t automatically shut off when I put the Deck to sleep — I have to hold down the power button every time.
Also, don’t expect to plug headphones into the pad’s 3.5mm jack — as Google warned years ago when Stadia shut down, that pass-through audio feature isn’t designed to work in Google’s replacement Bluetooth LE mode.
But if you picked up a Stadia Controller years ago, perhaps even for free, it’s a great secondary gamepad that might even be a good primary device for certain games. It’s got a tight, clicky, and very directional D-pad, smooth sticks and triggers, and responsive face buttons.
And through December 31st, saving this gamepad is exceptionally easy. You just plug it into a desktop computer, open a browser to Google’s official page, and follow a few minutes worth of instructions. Here’s our how-to if you want to see what’s involved first. Afterwards, you just hold Stadia+Y to put it in pairing mode, though it can’t remember pairings for more than one device at a time.
It’s possible that Google will grant another last-minute reprieve and extend the deadline another year, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I’ve been asking Google PR for over two weeks, but the company hasn’t offered an answer.
If you know a friend with this gamepad, or see one at your local thrift store for cheap, perhaps it’s time to save it!
