Contrary to popular belief, the majority of PC gamers play games with a controller. This finding comes after Steam revealed statistics of its user base which is basically a synonym with the PC crowd. Furthermore, Valve also shares that Steam now offers universal support for the DualSense. The PlayStation 5’s hot new controller.
This might come as a shock to some but PC gamers aren’t that different from the console crowd. Sure, the ‘PC Master Race’ memes formed an infamous picture of them but the facts tell a very different story.
Steam regularly conducts surveys and thus owns a very deep insight into player behavior. In a recent blog post, the game company states that well more than half of its users prefer to play with a controller. In certain genres, like skateboarding games, this share rises above 90% even!
So, it makes a ton of sense that Valve has been pushing extended controller support for its PC gaming client with the Steam Input API in recent years. The DualShock 4 was a prominent third-party controller which thanks to Valve engineers now works without any additional work on Steam.
Hence, the support for Sony controllers continues strong right out of the gate with the PS5’s launch. Steam now supports the DualSense as well. Likewise, Steam users won’t have to download any drivers either. Just plug the DualSense into your PC or connect it via Bluetooth and Steam automatically recognizes it.
There is a caveat for now, however. To enjoy the DualSense support, you’ll have to opt-in the beta Steam client. Once all bugs have been squashed, the feature will be released to everyone in the stable release.
Last but not least, while the gyro, touchpad and rumble functionalities of the DualSense technically work on Steam now, it still lies with developers to properly implement the new controller’s features. In short, developers will have to patch adequate game support for haptics, jamming triggers, and so on in existing games.
Still, it’s great news for PC gamers who are leaning more and more towards gaming with a controller. And we’re optimistic that new releases will fully support the DualSense.
