Steam Controller now works without Steam

As much as I personally looked forward to the 2026 Steam Controller, one key downside of the controller revealed by post-launch reviews was a lack of support for the device outside of the Steam client. While this is to be expected to some extent with a device literally called the Steam Controller, the lack of even rudimentary XInput support as a fallback is a considerable downside if you're looking to use the controller outside of Steam games. While Steam Input can be routed to work with non-Steam games (i.e. emulators like Dolphin) by launching them through Steam, that solution simply doesn't work with common use cases like games acquired through Xbox Game Pass/Microsoft Store.

Fortunately, the issue has now been fixed! Now, like PlayStation 5's DualSense controller, the Steam Controller is fully supported by the cross-platform Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) input library. This means that Steam Input can be sidestepped entirely while still allowing full use of the Steam Controller's inputs outside of Steam. There may be some limitations still requiring manual tools like SteamlessController (for example, not all Game Pass titles will support SDL inputs) or routing through Steam Input, but SDL has surprisingly widespread support across platforms, especially for emulators and decomps/recomps.

In the long-term, there is still progress to be made. Without universal SDL support or the use of XInput wrappers like SteamlessController, Steam Controller is still limited to Steam games. Additionally, while SDL does recognize the back buttons, touchpads, and gyro functionality, fully utilizing any of those added functions (which set Steam Controller apart from its contemporaries) still requires the use of Steam Input.

Even so, proper SDL support for the 2026 Steam Controller— or Steam Controller 2, or whatever you want to call it— goes a long way in improving the Steam Controller as a product. If you're one of many users who prefer not to use Steam Input for emulators, for example, the addition of Steam Controller SDL support is a straight-up godsend.