Here's How To Use PlayStation 5's DualSense Controller In Steam

The PlayStation 5 is barely out of the gate – particularly in regions like Europe – but Valve has wasted little time in bringing DualSense controller support to Steam. Steam's DualSense support is still in the early stages of testing, which means it isn't live for all users yet. Still, assuming that their games are using the Steam Input API, developers don't have to do anything to get DualSense functionality up and running in their games, which is certainly a nice touch.

For now, DualSense functionality is only available to users who have opted into the public beta Steam desktop client. If that's you, then you'll find that Steam supports all of DualSense's features as well, including the trackpad, the LED lighting around the trackpad, rumble, and gyro features. Obviously, the games you play will need to support those features as well, but that means you can get the full controller experience in games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding, and No Man's Sky.

PC players who swear by mouse and keyboard as the best control method definitely aren't rare, but as PC gaming in general grows in popularity, Valve says that controller usage among players has as well. In a Steamworks Development post today, Valve says that "the number of daily average users playing a Steam game with a controller has more than doubled" over the past two years.

Indeed, there are PC games that are better suited for a controller than a keyboard and mouse, with Valve saying that the percentage of players using a controller can "easily be 60% or higher" in some controller-friendly games. PlayStation controllers specifically represent 21.6% of all controller sessions across Steam according to Valve's numbers, and we can probably expect that number to grow as the DualSense winds up in more hands.

To participate in the Steam beta client and begin using a DualSense controller, open Steam, click on the "Steam" menu in the upper left corner, and then navigate to "Settings." From there, go to the "Account" tab and click the "Change..." button under "Beta Participation." Select the "Steam Beta Update" option from the dropdown list and restart Steam to enroll yourself in the beta, then you should be good to go. Valve doesn't say when it expects to fully release DualSense support, but we'll let you know when that happens.