Steam is beefing up Xbox and PS5 controller support

If you, like me, prefer playing your PC games with a controller pilfered from the household console box, good news a'coming. Steam is testing out expanded features for PS5 and Xbox controllers including extra customisation and button mapping. I'm still rocking a pretty old Xbox One controller myself, but hey, by the time I do upgrade it sounds like all the new features may just be ready and waiting for me when I plug one in.

Earlier this week, Steam outlined a few new features that you can try out if you swap over to the Steam Client Beta branch. Xbox controllers get the most gains this time around with the ability to rebind the share button on the Xbox Series X controller and binding those fancy paddles up there on the back of the Elite controller in your controller configurations.

They're also testing out support for more than four Xbox controllers. I don't know about you, but there are not currently more than four Xbox controllers or creatures cable of wielding them in my household. Perhaps by the end of 2021, eh?

PS5 controllers get a small nod for now with the option to enable or disable the LED light on the gamepad or only enable it when multiple controllers are connected. Steam also improved PS5 controller support at the end of last year not long after the new system launched.

There's a bit more in Steam's update about support for the Wooting Two keyboard, HOTAS, and G15 devices as well.

If you're keen to plug in your entire family of Xbox controllers and see what happens, you can opt in to the beta in the account section of your Steam settings menu.