As more and more console exclusives arrive on PC, Valve revealed today that the number of Steam players using controllers has exploded in recent years with a large dominance of Xbox controllers.
Steam gamers are increasingly using controllers
Steam has announced that since 2018, the average daily use of controllers on its platform has tripled, from around 5% to 15%. Valve says that over the years, controllers have diversified, but Xbox controllers unsurprisingly remain the primary controllers used by PC gamers.
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- 59% of gaming sessions were done with Xbox controllers.
- 26% of gaming sessions were done with PlayStation controllers.
- 10% of gaming sessions were done on Steam Deck.
The firm also indicates that 42% of these gaming sessions with a controller made use of Steam Input, Valve's program allowing broad compatibility with the various controllers on the market and numerous customization options.
The work continues
The company also promises to continue working on improving Steam Input support, and recalls the recent updates made to controller support, including the Xbox elite controllers and DualSense Edge.
- Big Picture mode update: This version of the client, designed for navigation with a controller, has benefited from a complete overhaul, allowing the Steam Deck user experience to be brought to the big screen.
- New controller configuration menu: the configurator has been redesigned and simplified. Gyroscope Aiming: The gaming experience with a gyroscope-equipped controller has been overhauled and improved. Additionally, fast stick movement functionality has been added to Steam Input.
- Virtual menus: These menus are now supported from the desktop client.
- PlayStation controller support: We've worked with Sony to improve support for PlayStation controllers, including DualSense Edge. Future third-party licensed PlayStation controllers will also be compatible.
- Xbox controller support: Xbox One controllers are now better supported (including Xbox Elite controller back buttons) with the implementation of a driver for Windows.
It goes without saying that the number of gamers using controllers to play on PC is expected to continue to increase in the coming years, as more and more “console” games come to PC.
Don't hesitate to tell us in the comments if you are also one of the PC players who are abandoning the keyboard/mouse combo in favor of a controller to play, and especially why.
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