Steam Controller Usage: Valve Unveils Surprising Data

Valve recently shared some interesting stats about controller usage on Steam, revealing that gamepads are becoming increasingly popular. This data has been collected over multiple years, with controller support being an important factor users may consider when buying a game on Valve's Steam platform.

Time and time again, Valve, the studio behind some of the world's most popular and beloved video games, like Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, and Portal, has proven it values innovation with hardware just as much as it does with software. Over the last decade, Valve has become increasingly more involved in the hardware space, releasing several first-party products tailor-made for gamers. Valve's Steam Deck continues to be one of the company's most successful attempts at integrating into the hardware space, giving users a sleek and powerful handheld gaming device capable of running today's top AAA titles. However, part of what makes Steam great is the ability to integrate multiple systems and components into one unified experience, with the platform allowing players to use a wide variety of third-party controllers during gaming sessions.

Valve revealed in a new blog post that daily usage of controllers on Steam has tripled. Controller use has increased to 15% since 2018, with 42% of these controllers using Steam Input. Valve noted that the controller landscape itself had changed significantly since 2018, sharing that the most popular method of play is with Xbox controllers. As usage has grown, the team has continued working to improve and add features to enhance controller support, with recent upgrades to Steam's Big Picture mode and virtual menus being some of the most important.

Recent Steam Controller Support Improvements

Big Picture update New controller configurator Gyro aiming Virtual menus PlayStation Controller support Xbox Controller support

Valve also reiterated the value of Steam Input, saying that when implemented, players have the ability to use over 300 different controllers during their gaming sessions. This versatility is a core part of the Steam experience, with Valve's Steam Deck also giving players a ton of options, like the ability to play handheld or remote.

As stated earlier, Valve is still very much an innovator when it comes to the gaming industry, with the company's Steam Deck being one of its best-selling products. Officially released in 2022, the Steam Deck was Valve's way of entering the handheld gaming space, a market already filled with great products, most notably the Nintendo Switch. The handheld device is exceptionally popular, and with Valve discounting its Steam Deck on a regular basis, more users than ever have the opportunity to game remotely. Valve approached the Steam Deck with high-end performance in mind, creating a tool that allows gamers to carry most of their collection with them wherever they go.