Support NeoGAF

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Controller support shown in Steam library and store expands to now include PlayStation controllers

Steam has long made it easy to find games that have great support for Xbox controllers. Today's Steam update expands on that foundation to help the millions of players with PlayStation's DualShock and DualSense controllers easily find games to play with those devices.

These improvements add better options for sorting and filtering areas of the Steam store, seeing clear compatibility information on individual store pages, and finding whether games in one's library will work well with the controller in their hands.

The best place to dive in? Check out the Controller-Friendly hub in Steam to explore for games that work well with controllers.

Store Updates

Browsing the Controller-Friendly hub
We have upgraded the Controller-Friendly hub on Steam to make it easier to explore by controller type. By default Steam will set a filter based on the controller we've seen you play with recently, but you can also manually select any of the major controller models to adjust the filters.

Store page display of supported controllers
On each store page, you'll now find more detail on the three controller models with significant player base: Xbox, DualSense, and DualShock. We've also added a category for games that make full use of the Steam Input API which allows any of more than 200 devices to work well with the game.

This display is also personalized based on the device or devices that we've seen you use recently.

Store search options
In search, you'll find a new section of filters that give you more options to narrow the search results by. This includes specific controller models for Xbox, DualShock, and DualSense controllers as well as settings to find games that are built with controllers in mind.

Library Updates

New Compatibility Section In Your Library
You'll also find more controller support information when exploring your own Steam library. If Steam as seen you play with a controller previously, it will show you information about the game's compatibility with your controller. And if a controller is required for play, you'll see a new call-out to make that more clear too.

New Device Filters
To ease in finding games you own that work well with DualShock and DualSense controllers, you'll now find more nuanced filter options in the Steam Library. This also means that you can also create a collection to automatically organize these games into once place.

Controller Configuration Button
You can now always find a controller configuration button, conveniently located next to the settings and information buttons on the play bar.

Plus, Similar Updates to Big Picture Mode
If you enjoy kicking back and playing from a bit further away, you'll find that all the above features and benefits are also part of Big Picture Mode, helping you enjoy more gaming without having to get up from the couch.

Wait, why does Valve care about controllers on PC?

Players are clearly interested in using controllers to play a huge variety of games. In fact, around 12% of all active players on Steam are regularly using a controller. And some individual games can see the majority of their players using a controller. For example, many popular ball sports games can have well over 80% of their players using controllers, while many popular punishing RPGs have more than half their players using controllers.

Whenever we're thinking about what areas of Steam to work on, we like to turn to data, especially to note how things change over time and which indicators suggest particular player interests. When we dig into controller usage data, we see a few interesting changes over the past few years.

• There were over 3 Billion game sessions that included a controller in the past year
  • 60% Xbox controller
  • 27% PlayStation models
  • The remaining % is made up of Steam Deck, Switch Pro, and hundreds of other controller models
• The same period four years ago (ending Nov 2019) had 990 Million controller sessions
  • 76% Xbox controllers
  • 19% PlayStation controllers
• During these four years, PlayStation controllers saw a 4x increase in sessions

So data like this tells us that players love the ability to kick back and play with a controller. And given the existing public reports about just how many PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles have been sold in the world, there are certainly a huge number of DualSense and DualShock controllers already in people's houses and ready to be plugged into a PC for a match of football or another run at that challenging boss fight.

Steam :: Steam News :: New! Find Great Games To Play With DualShock and DualSense Controllers

Controller support shown in Steam library and store expands to now include PlayStation controllers

steamcommunity.com

 

[BennyBlanco]

It’s dumb of Sony to not release drivers and a dongle at this point. Pretty sure they had already done that for DS4 at this point in ps4’s cycle.

 

[MasterCornholio]

It’s dumb of Sony to not release drivers and a dongle at this point. Pretty sure they had already done that for DS4 at this point in ps4’s cycle.

I agree. Compatability is where the Xbox controller has a pretty good advantage. I wish the Dualsense had the same amount of support.

 

[Holammer]

Sackboy is incorrectly listed as "mostly playable" despite supporting DualSense and even haptics. But that's up to the developers to fill in the details correctly.
Also, I'd love to see a way to sort games by haptics support.

 

[Schmick]

Been playing Spiderman Remastered with a DS4 (wired) without any issues. Even been getting the annoying web slinging noises from the controller speaker.