Steam Now Officially Supports More Nintendo Controllers

Steam now officially detects and supports two more Nintendo controllers, the Switch 2 Pro and GameCube Controller. Many gamers will remember the days when the controllers supported on Valve’s PC gaming platform were limited to third-party game pads including those made by Xbox and PlayStation. This may have left some Nintendo gamers feeling a little out in the cold, requiring them to purchase a separate controller specifically for use with Steam on PC.

In 2018, the platform added official support for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller using the Steam Input feature, which allowed players to connect via USB or Bluetooth and enjoy games without the need of third-party middleware. Gamers could even opt to “Use Nintendo Button Layout,” which would swap the X/Y and A/B buttons for those used to Nintendo’s gamepad configuration. This functionality also included support for the gyro and rumble functions of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

Steam Now Supports Nintendo Switch 2 Pro and GameCube Controllers

On November 25, a Steam Client Beta update added support for both the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro and GameCube controllers on Windows PCs via USB. This means that gamers can even plug in their GameCube adapter in Wii U mode and have rumble functionality. In addition to the original Switch Pro controller support added in 2018, Steam has also officially recognized Nintendo’s Joy-Con and other Switch Online classic controllers — NES, Super NES, N64, and Sega Genesis — since 2022. This latest beta client update means that more Nintendo gamers can use their controllers with Steam, and they can generally be employed without use of hacks, third-party programs, or extra tinkering.

It’s important to note, however, that “Steam support” doesn’t necessarily guarantee that every game will recognize and use a Nintendo controller without hiccups. As with other gamepads, a little extra configuration may sometimes be needed to get everything working right. And some titles of course won’t offer gyro, motion, or rumble functionality. Many games, particularly older and PC-native ones, recognize Xbox controller layouts by default. Even with PlayStation gamepads, oftentimes the button prompts shown onscreen are for Xbox, and this should be expected when using Nintendo controllers as well.

Gamers can easily get their hands on a Switch 2 Pro Controller at most major retailers, whether brick-and-mortar or online, including directly from Nintendo. The modern GameCube-style controller that was released in May 2025, as well as Nintendo’s other retro controllers, can also be purchased from Nintendo.com. However, buying a classic controller requires a Switch Online membership, which currently costs $19.99 USD per year for the basic individual plan and $49.99 per year to add on the Expansion Pack.

Those who already have a PlayStation or Xbox controller can of course use those controllers instead. Steam officially supports the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and current Xbox controllers, as well as the DualShock 4. Beta support for the PlayStation DualSense on Steam was rolled out in 2020, with expanded functionality arriving in November 2023.

Valve’s expansion of official support to include the Switch 2 Pro and GameCube controllers has made PC gaming more accessible to more people. There was a time when only PC-specific, third-party gamepads could be used on PC, but many people are accustomed to the feel and behavior of Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo controllers. Steam’s continued evolution to support a variety of controllers, in a painless plug-and-play fashion, means that PC gaming can be a headache-free experience for everyone.

Steam Client Beta – November 25 – Patch Notes

General

• The Steam client is now 64-bit on Windows 11 and Windows 10 64-bit.
  • Systems running 32-bit versions of Windows will continue receiving updates to the 32-bit Steam client until January 1, 2026.

Game Recording

• Fixed errors copying to clipboard or exporting H265 videos on systems with a NVIDIA 50xx series gpu.

Steam Input

• Fixed regression detecting controller hotplug in Unity games
• Added support for Nintendo Switch 2 controllers connected over USB on Windows
• Added support for GameCube adapters in Wii-U mode with rumble on Windows
• Promoted the newer gyro modes from beta to the default gyro modes loaded. Older configuration that are using the older modes will still see the option and you can also enable Steam Input dev mode under Settings->Developer to keep them visible all the time.
• Fix a case where the desktop version of the configurator could unexpectedly close when trying to preview a configuration for another game on the Search tab