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
Its a problem that it works that way not that it wasent advertised. Sure it works with steam but im betting people expected it to work like a basic controller outside of steam as well like xinput. Even the Xbox controller does this. Yes theres an app you can get to use the extra functions but my elite controller works like a normal controller without that app especially because I mainly use linux now.
There are a lot of people who link controllers to their phone either to game on their phone or stream games to their phone and I do not think the controller would work in that case.
Edit for some clarification: Steam is required for the controller to work and it only works for games added to Steam according to the article this means that:
This only accounts for a small amount of users sure but why should they be getting shafted when they dont have to be?
Where is really bad though is unless the driver is initialized on the log in screen what happens to your controller when you dont have internet? What happens when servers go offline or Valve decides to block your VPN or whatnot? Itll be a brick. I do not want to give any more credit to them I promise you but my Xbox and DualShock controllers work just fine in this situation. (I still do want a Steam controller but I do not want to reward this sort of behavior)
Ok, I didn’t downvote you, but…
Its a Steam Controller.
For Steam.
… If you just made up some expectation, contrary to everything that Valve has said about this thing, and marketed it as…
To a certain extent, that is magical thinking, that is abandoning any concept of checking your hopes or expectations against… reality.
If you… want to run… a game… with this controller…
You install Steam, and the game.
Steam is the drivers, for the controller.
If you own the game in a way that you can’t add it to Steam… sorry about your DRM, I guess?
The Steam Controller has always been described by Valve as an evolution of the Steam Deck tech, both hardwsre and software… it pretty much literally is a Steam Deck, without the screen and PC, in a different shape.
EDIT:
IRT to your edit:
Point 1: Correct. The Steam Controller… works through Steam.
Point 2: … I don’t think the first half of this is correct. I’m not 100% sure, but I think you can do this via Moonlight/Sunshine. I mean… I know you can in general stream Steam games from a PC using Moonlight/Sunshine, I’m not 100% sure this will work with a Steam Controller… but it works on a Steam Deck, so… probably will work.
As to the second half of this… yeah, the Steam Controller probably won’t generally work as a controller for a game on a phone. Though FeX may actually somewhat/eventually aid with getting that to being possible.
Any projects? Make your project support Steam Input. I can’t speak for other engines too well, but Godot has GodotSteam, supports Steam Controllers, the SteamInput system.
As to your internet related concerns: Steam has an offline mode. Unless you are running a game via Steam that has its own/extra DRM that requires a constant internet connection, you’ll be fine.
SteamInput works without internet. If it didnt’t, a SteamDeck’s controls would not work at all without internet access. … It does.
EDIT 2:
Just for super duper clarity here:
Making a Steam account costs nothing.
Maintaining a Steam account costs nothing.
Any … .exe or .sh or whatever… can be added to Steam, to be launched and played via Steam.
The… only kind of situation where this wouldn’t work is essentially via a game that is installed/managed by some other platform that basically encrypts the exe in a way that only that platform can decrypt.
A GOG game, or something from Itch.io, with no DRM?
Plop it in Steam, it’ll work.
It’s a problem when people don’t understand what they’re spending their money on. Steam can make their device do whatever the fuck they want, and “consumers” are fully within their rights to not buy it…
And we are able to freely criticize them about it. If any other company did the same people would be irate.
But these lemmings on the internet don’t like it if you criticise Lord Gaben.
I definitely believe theres some bias and rose tinted glasses going on here. I love Valve currently but people shouldn’t reward bad/sketchy behavior regardless of who it is.
I would really like to see Valve release some basic open standalone drivers to keep in the spirit of their other recent hardware.
Other companies do the exact same though, Nintendo controllers don’t support non-Nintendo devices (although they’ve been reverse-engineered for Steam and Linux).
… but the Steam Controller works with any hardware that can run Steam.
… which is… any PC, thats less than roughly 15-20 years old.
So this is absolutely not the exact same thing as what Nintendo does.
Steam is hardware agnostic. Nintendo is not.
You could run a Steam Controller on a Nintendo Switch, provided you got rid of Nintendo’s operating system, like so:
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/handheld-gaming/steam-shown-running-on-nintendo-switch-thanks-to-latest-proton-beta-fex-2604-translates-x86-to-arm-friendly-instructions-on-linux
I did forget about Nintendo but to be fair, people hate the shit out of Nintendo. Microsoft and Sony controllers have been pretty plug and play for me though.
Other companies do do this… and people are fine with it,. Get a grip.
Sony and Xbox controllers are plug and play on almost any computer I’ve used and even some phones. What do you mean?
Nintendo, and it’s new to recent console generations that those controllers have crossplay because they found it more profitable to let PC players buy them.
You know this though…
And people rightfully criticize Nintendo. They criticize Nintendo for their other wrongdoings more because the controller thing is really just a drop in the hat.
Are you good? I dont think im being aggressive here but you’re coming off as really toxic.
Why would it support xinput? If it did then touchpads wouldnt work in that mode, gyro, gripsense, macros, and the back buttons. Also not a single valve product has ever supported xinput not the original steam controller or the steam deck, why would this suddenly be a massive departure?