I’m sure you’ve seen me talking about the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller and how to get it working in either Steam or DS4Windows, on the PC. I know many of you have enjoyed those videos and articles, and I enjoyed making them (here, here, here, here, and here).
However, I did want to address a question I’ve been asking from time to time, that being, “why don’t I see PlayStation prompts in games when using the DualSense”? This is a great question and one that I’ve prepared yet another interesting and educational video about.
Check out that video below.
The TLDR; DS4Windows uses Xinput or the Xbox Input that is native to Windows (7/8/10). So it’s emulation the DualSense by using Xinput, but games still only see the Xinput, so they display the Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller. With Steam, it uses the SIAPI or Steam Input API and has a greater feature set than Xinput. This can allow games to show the DualShock 4 in games and either allow you to switch to a PlayStation button prompt either manually or automatically. However, games would need to be programmed with the DualShock 4 (and DualSens) in mind.
If a game doesn’t already include the DualShock/DualSense control and button scheme, it simply won’t give you the option in-game. Meaning you’ll be able to use the controller. Still, you’ll have to mentally establish the differences between the Xbox controller buttons and the PlayStation buttons, which isn’t something that everyone wants to do or can do. There are currently many games, such as Death Stranding, No Man’s Sky, and Horizon Zero Dawn, that already support SIAPI. The great thing about SIAPI is if the game supports it and adheres to Steam’s requirements, then the DualSense will work with no additional assistance required from the developer. Again, SIAPI is some powerful stuff.
While others provide the ability to change the controller mappings, other games such as Resident Evil (2/3) depend on modders to create mods to do this.
Hopefully, this explanation makes things less confusing when using the DualSense on PC with DS4Windows or Steam. I’m still hopeful we’ll get full support from Sony and that developers will start adding support for the controller in upcoming games. Especially since Steam has shown that the DualShock 4 and DualSense controller adaption rate has been on the rise.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
