The issue comes down to how the device interacts with your computer. Just like the original version, the new Steam Controller has no native Windows drivers. This means the hardware relies entirely on the Steam app to function properly. If you do not have the game running via Valve’s storefront app, your shiny new gamepad turns into a useless piece of plastic.
Gamers Nexus also reported this and there are a lot of other news outlets also covering this. It is kinda the same as with the steam deck where I noticed that the inputs just don’t work until steam is launched. I really don’t like that I have to have Steam running for this controller to work. I don’t know if it is a dealbreaker for me, yet, but it really put a damper on my enthusiasm about it
Yeah you can work around it, but it is still intentionally restricting you from just using it with non-steam games. I don’t want to have to play every game through steam, even though I intentionally bought it from GOG for example
You don’t have to play every game through Steam, switch to the controller action set in desktop mode and and it’ll work as a basic controller for any game.
I wouldn’t call it an intentional restriction. Not trying to be a Steam apologist, but it would require extra work to make the controller use something other than Steam Input. Or to make a stand-alone Steam Input app. Not doing extra work is not what I would call a restriction. That’s like an Xbox controller not working on PlayStation because Microsoft didn’t put the extra work in to make it compatible. It’s not an intentional restriction. It’s just… extra work.
Ironically, both a PlayStation controller and Xbox controller work in Windows natively. But they don’t have all the fanciness of Steam Input. Steam Input is genuinely insane! I have a Steam Deck and the ways you can customize input are so finely detailed and powerful. They would have to make a standalone app to support all these features, or just give up and make a generic Xinput mode, which I don’t see the point of doing for such a powerful controller. It would be a waste. Just buy an Xbox controller.
I also don’t see it as a big deal to have to install Steam and register non-steam games in order to use the fancy Steam Controller. It’s free software, and you can configure it to start in your Library so you never even see any ads for games on sale. You just start your game, set up your controls perfectly, and you’re good to go. As a company having a near monopoly on PC gaming, Steam is pretty benevolent.
Mostly agree. It’s been a while since I bought a console, but my dualshock 3 controller never had an official windows 10 driver.
It’s not a “work around” though, it’s how it’s supposed to be used
I guess it boils down to two options: