Hello! Your PS5 controller now works on Steam with literally hundreds of games. Okay, thanks.
Seriously, though, Valve has announced on the Steamworks development group that the PS5 DualSense Controller now works with the Steam Input API. That means that the PS5 controller's LED, trackpad, rumble, and gyro are fully available for players to configure in games using beta Steam. This is as opposed to the basic provisional functions added to the Steam beta client last week and a few days ago Platform-wide support will ship "after further testing." This is
The Steam Input API is a developer-side tool that allows players to very easily plug, play, and remap nearly any controller with a supported Steam game. It's what lets you get that seamless thing where you plug in a controller and the in-game prompts show the right buttons and symbols no matter what device you're using.
In their update note to developers, Valve notes that "millions" of players use a controller every day on Steam. "In controller friendly games, the percentage of players for that game that use a controller can easily be 60% or higher," they say, continuing that "Some games, such as skateboarding games, have well over 90% of their players using controllers in game."
We'll see if Valve starts working on full haptics support for the PS5 controller on Steam any time soon, as it would presumably require a major update to how the Steam Input API works. If you're thinking about buying a PS5, we've got a review of the console from a PC Gamer's perspective right on the site.
