Do you remember Google Stadia? Steam finally made its gamepad worth saving

December 31, 2025 is the deadline for Save your Google Stadia controller. That’s less than three weeks from today, but there has never been a better time. Last month, I discovered that the console was finally becoming a first-class citizen in Steam and SteamOS.

The Stadia controller was originally designed to connect to your Wi-Fi network and control games remotely from Google’s cloud servers. But when Stadia shut down in January 2023, the company folded He did a great job shutting down the service: It has offered a full hardware recovery and lets you rescue your Stadia controller by turning it into a generic Bluetooth gamepad instead.

When I traveled to Valve headquarters in late October to see Steam machineI asked Pierre-Loup Griffais if Steam will fully support the Stadia controller the way it does many other gamepads, letting you turn each of the buttons and joysticks into fully customizable control schemes. At the time, he said he thought the Xbox One’s wireless adapter might have a higher priority than Google’s abandoned console.

So you can imagine my surprise when I found that Steam not only now supports the Stadia gamepad, but makes every button useful. The Google Assistant key is now a freely programmable M1 macro button! Google’s Screenshot Button takes screenshots in SteamOS! The Stadia Button now doubles as an Xbox Button, letting you activate many (but not all) of the Steam Deck’s most useful shortcuts, including Stadia + A to pull up the quick access menu, Stadia + Right Stick to summon the mouse cursor, and Stadia + Left Stick to adjust volume or brightness.

On desktop, the Stadia button can also launch Steam’s Big Picture mode.

It’s definitely not the best gamepad you can buy for Steam. (This is my current favorite.) The Stadia controller never offered gyroscopic or back buttons, and while I see the “Allow this device to wake up Steam Deck” option in the SteamOS Bluetooth menu, it doesn’t seem to work properly. The console also doesn’t turn off automatically when I put the deck to sleep – I have to hold down the power button every time.

Also, don’t expect to plug your headphones into the panel’s 3.5mm jack, and as Google warned years ago when Stadia was shut down, this pass-through audio feature isn’t designed to work in Google’s alternative Bluetooth LE mode.

But if you’ve had a Stadia controller for years, maybe Even for freeIt’s a great secondary gamepad and might also be a good primary device for certain games. It’s got tight, clicking, and very Directional D-pad, soft sticks and triggers, and responsive face buttons.

Until December 31st, saving this gamepad is very easy. Simply connect it to your desktop computer, Open a browser to the official Google pageand follow a few minutes of instructions. Here’s how to do it If you want to see what’s involved first. Then, just press Stadia+Y to put it into pairing mode, though it can’t remember to pair for more than one device at a time.

It is possible that Google will grant another Last minute postponement The deadline will be extended for another year, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I’ve been asking Google PR for over two weeks, but the company hasn’t provided an answer.

If you know a friend who has this gamepad, or you see one at your local thrift store for cheap, maybe it’s time to save!