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Only around 10% of Steam gaming sessions are played with a controller (PCgamer)

hlm666

Member
I'm doing my part, finished elden ring with m/kb just like all from releases before it on pc ;) didn't even find control ui toggle until 6 hours in because they've never bother before lol.
 

R6Rider

Gold Member
I'm in the mostly controller camp.

RTS and games like Terraria I prefer M&KB, although there have been some RTS games with pretty good controller support.
 

Utherellus

Member
I spend 80% playing on my PC with M/K

I use xbox controller when playing chill relaxing games like Snowrunner, Trine2 and mostly racing stuff.

But I simply can not imagine myself playing any AAA 1st/3rd person game with controller, where I need focus, reaction and accuracy. It's a trainwreck for me. M/K combination is simply superior and fits my skills.
 

Vaelka

Member
Maybe I am weird but I actually like to play singleplayer FPS games with a controller it's just more relaxing for me.
There's games tho that don't lend themselves well at all to controllers like RTS and MMO's imo or PvP FPS.
 

Dorago

Member
I've used a Dual Shock 3, Dual Shock 4, Xbox 360 Wired, Wired Generic Logitech, 8BitDo SN30, and the Steam Controller. The only one that has proven usable over the long run is my precious Dual Shock 3. Dual Shock 4 has garbage analog sticks and face buttons that get stuck after less that a year of use. The Xbox 360 has the worst d-pad in memory, the face buttons get stuck, and the analog sticks are too small, the Logitech broke in under a month, the 8BitDo has really bad dead zone and really small L2 and R2 buttons, and the Steam Controller despite hours fiddling with the haptics, sensitivity, swipe angle, etc never works as well as the best my precious Dual Shock 3.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
That doesn't solve the problem of having to use the wrists in both hands. My keyboard hand gets more tired actually.

It also doesn't solve the problem of having to be stuck on a desk.


good
If you need wrists you are using K&M wrong.

I play laying down on my mattress. Fuck desk and couch.

Good = not being so slow to aim/turn, not requiring claw grip to have access to all buttons at the same time, not "needing" aim assists fooling the players to think they are good at aiming, not dealing with L3 and R3 deficient "clicking" while analog sticks are tilted...
 
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Hezekiah

Banned
That doesn't solve the problem of having to use the wrists in both hands. My keyboard hand gets more tired actually.

It also doesn't solve the problem of having to be stuck on a desk.


Modern FPS games (and source ports of older ones) usually have pretty good controller support, with the right sensitivity, dead zone, acceleration, response, etc. It's no different than playing an FPS on a console.

Some older ones are more of a pain to play such way (i found Half-Life 2 to be hard to play).

I also don't play multiplayer twitch shooters, so i don't care.
Keyboard and a wrist wrest lol
jjj59Os.jpg

Then buy a HDMI cable.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
This is the way. Unless you're playing a twitch shooter or RTS, then you're dealing with KB&M on a couch which is not awesome.

I'm using an office borrowed Dell keyboard and mouse for Windows navigation and a long ass USB splitter. Almost tempted to get a dedicated wireless kb&m just for TV use convenience. We could use a thread for comfy couch PC gaming tips.
It is with lap boards. I play laying down on my mattress...
 

WitchHunter

Member

Valve has released a bunch of interesting info in its Steam Year in Review 2021, including controller usage statistics. According to Valve, there are currently 48 million controllers "registered by Steam users," and they're used in over 10% of all gaming sessions. I wonder how many of those are Steam controllers?

Back in February, a Steamworks update added a new controller usage stats page where developers can see a detailed breakdown of how often players are using controllers in their games, and what kinds of controllers they're using. The data includes gamepads, flight sticks, racing pedals, and even dance pads. Basically, anything that plugs into your PC and can be used to play a game (like a banana) but isn't a mouse and keyboard is counted as a controller.

It wasn't surprising to read that, back in 2021, over 70% of fighting and sports games were played with a controller (or a fight stick), while that number falls to below 1% for RTS games. Only 7-8% of players use a controller for first-person shooters. 3rd person action/adventure games like Elden Ring saw a near 50/50 split between controller and keyboard and mouse usage, which is surprising, as the genre often puts controllers first. Elden Ring's mouse and keyboard support isn't the best, for example.

Valve offered examples of how using this data could help a dev improve controller support for their games. Suppose you notice that PlayStation controller usage falls below the global average (24%); you might want to check if the correct PS button prompts are displaying in its game instead of an Xbox controller.

Steam's year in review also noted that players logged over 21% more playtime in 2021 than 2020. The active daily users sit around 69 million, with a concurrent count of 27.4 million. Steam also delivered over 32.9 exabytes of data, which is a lot of games downloaded in 2021.
They should partner with pornhub, share unique user ids. So we would finally see which demographic wanks on game protagonists, how often and during before or after a session.
 
I use a controller when I game on PC. I have a Steel Series with symmetrical analogs (Steel Series stuff rocks btw). I'm in my living room in a lay-z-boy so controller is king. I'm not playing anything competitive, just lots of builders, co-op stuff and the occasional MMO. I do have a keyboard and mouse nearby but only if the controller does not do a particular function.. For me I have never found KB/M a comfortable way to play games.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
90% of the games I play on Steam I play with a controller.... BUT that 10% with KBM is basically Civ and other 4x games, which account for 90%+ of my gaming time.... so how am I counted in this scenario?
 
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JackSparr0w

Banned
M/KB the best by far. Steam controller is tolerable but any other pad is pure garbage.

HOTAS and steering wheel for flight and racing simulators of course.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Actually surprised it's that high. The most popular game on Steam that I would consider controller centric is GTAV and FIFA. Everything more popular than those two games are designed for MKB.
 

manfestival

Member
FPS = KBM all day

I usually use a controller on more controller centric titles or on those where the developers plaster on the boot screen "it is recommended to use a controller."
 

yamaci17

Member
i use gamepad on tps / story games
i use keyboard mouse on fps games

if the tps game has heavy aiming i can fall back to mouse keyboard
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Actually surprised it's that high. The most popular game on Steam that I would consider controller centric is GTAV and FIFA. Everything more popular than those two games are designed for MKB.
I doubt many use controller on GTAV and lose the godlike gunplay on m&kb...
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I've used a Dual Shock 3, Dual Shock 4, Xbox 360 Wired, Wired Generic Logitech, 8BitDo SN30, and the Steam Controller. The only one that has proven usable over the long run is my precious Dual Shock 3. Dual Shock 4 has garbage analog sticks and face buttons that get stuck after less that a year of use. The Xbox 360 has the worst d-pad in memory, the face buttons get stuck, and the analog sticks are too small, the Logitech broke in under a month, the 8BitDo has really bad dead zone and really small L2 and R2 buttons, and the Steam Controller despite hours fiddling with the haptics, sensitivity, swipe angle, etc never works as well as the best my precious Dual Shock 3.
I loved 360 dpad. Got the new 20tb aniv series controller and I am not happy about all the super mouse like clicky buttons. The dpad and shoulder buttons are so loud. I don’t like the hard micro switch feel.
Dual sense got ‘em soft buttons. No annoying clickiness
 
Count me as one of those 10%
I almost always use a controller if I have the option. Except for something like Civilization, then KBM
 
Everything other than Civ and FPSs is a job for one of my many stupid controllers (I almost have a hoarding problem with these... almost...). These days I switch between the DS5 (I have no PS5, mind you) and the 8bitdo pro2.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Its a shame more PC gamers don't use a gaming PC as a console. I've had one hooked up to a TV for over a decade. Best entertainment system. Obviously I use a controller. I do have a lap board, and tried it once in Doom 2016, it was good, but I am too lazy to use it most of the time.
 

Xdrive05

Member
Jack Black Reaction GIF

I wanted so much to like it, and I used it for a while but it's just...bad.

I keep going back to it thinking it will make couch gaming perfect, and then I keep getting reminded that not having a right thumbstick pretty much single handedly (har!) makes it invalid for xbox controller substitution (which is of course the standard interface and will continue to be).
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Seems like ten percent of the steam users who use a controller are all from Gaf. Here it sounds like it's a common thing to do.

I personally hate controller for anything but racing games. I'm cheering over more and more console games are beginning to support keyboard and mouse while everyone here wants to use a controller.
 
At least we can say, options are good. I friggin' LOVE, that I can take ALL my controllers (even old school PS2, have an USB-adapter), plug them or pair them and Steam lets me use them (even though the PS5 Controller griefs hard, when other controllers are connected simultaneously).
 
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