Steam improves support for the PS5 DualSense controller

(Image credit: Sony)

The latest update to the Steam Client Beta, Valve's public test branch, adds additional support for the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller. The controller did already work with the Steam API, but without support for its bespoke features: here's how to get the DualSense set up on your PC.

Valve's update notes read: "Added additional support for the PS5 DualSense controller including LED, trackpad, rumble, and gyro functionality" and "Added a directional swipe mode for use with trackpads and gyro." That's more or less every DualSense feature bar the adaptive triggers.

This is of course in beta, and there are things Valve hasn't yet got round to. On-screen button prompts are still showing Xbox icons, as was the case when support was initially added, and users are reporting that rumble only works when the controller is wired.

The speed at which Valve has moved on the DualSense suggests that full support will not be far away: though quite how many Steam games might choose to take advantage of something like adaptive triggers is another question.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."