You can sign up to get a daily email of our articles, see the Mailing List page.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Valve have released some interesting statistics about controller use

By - | Views: 18,541

Valve recently put up a blog post to talk about controller use on PC and some of their statistics are a little surprising.

While a lot of the time our trusty mouse and keyboard combination remains king, controllers (gamepads—whatever) are still widely used and they can provide a better experience in certain genres.

Going by Valve's data, since 2015 over 30 million people have registered a controller with over 15 million registering more than one. 

It doesn't surprise me at all the the Xbox 360 controller is the most widely used. It's actually a pretty comfortable controller to use, but more than that it works great on PC too. There were versions marketed specifically for the PC for years as well and since the Xbox 360 was pretty popular, it shouldn't be a shock people stuck with it. I'm actually surprised the Steam Controller seems to be used so little comparatively as it's been out for a few years now.

The Switch Pro is probably the biggest surprise, hitting nearly half a million already after only around a year and a half.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Hardware, Steam
18 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
36 comments
Page: «3/4»
  Go to:

Tiedemann Sep 27, 2018
I suck at using the small joysticks for any precision work so for me the PS4 controller is the best. It does help to have had a xbox controller before though since the games only shows ABXY :P


Last edited by Tiedemann on 27 September 2018 at 7:01 am UTC
vali19th Sep 27, 2018
If using Steam on Linux and owning at least one controller aren't correlated, this means that at least 30,000,000 * 0.0059 (0.59%, taken from the steam survey page) = 177,000 people are using Steam on Linux.
einherjar Sep 27, 2018
Quoting: sarmadIt's been many years since the Steam Controller has released and on Linux it still doesn't work out-of-the-box, at least on Ubuntu it doesn't. You always have to tweak system configuration files to get the controller to work.

My experience is absolutly different. I use Ubuntu and the Steam controller worked without tweaking config files. I just installed the package steam-devices.


Last edited by einherjar on 27 September 2018 at 7:20 am UTC
mao_dze_dun Sep 27, 2018
I've a Steam Controller, wired Xbox 360 and a DualShock 4. Love them all. I probably like the Steam Controller best, but they're all excellent and depending on the use case I switch between them.
murasame78 Sep 27, 2018
I'm a little surprised PC controllers (like logitech pads) are not so well represented. Still, I can understand why xbox controllers are so popular : you know what you get and you can get it easily at a fair price. I mean, xbox controllers are available pretty much everywhere (including online stores) and if you google or amazon for PC gamepads, you get an obvious reason to go for the xbox 360 controller...
Arehandoro Sep 27, 2018
I have a Steam Controller and Xbox 360 ones from when I owned the console back in the day. I do believe the Steam Controller is better, especially for its programmable features, but at the same time it's its biggest flaw. Most of the times I just want it to work out of the box, not dedicating time to test what's the best way of controlling a game, and in that the xbox controller excels.

Maybe, if I was a competitive gamer, my experience would be different and I would re-map buttons constantly seeking those extra milisec that would give me an advantage.
TheSyldat Sep 27, 2018
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: ElectricPrismThe ABXY buttons are fucking small -- very annoying.
Oh, Jeez! I didn't want to bring that up, but since you did ... they are like very loose Skittles or Chiclets gum sitting down there. Like you said, very loose, and VERY annoying!
Maybe is it because I have hands with real elvish finger (my fingers are really thin) but personnaly I do like those buttons a lot they are well placed just the right size everything falls perfectly in place with the steam controller.

Somebody said that on the other hand the surface of the touchpads was not ideal and on that front I do agree I bought touchpad stickers that make that surface a bit smoother and I never took em off
TheSyldat Sep 27, 2018
Quoting: Patola
Quoting: ArehandoroI have a Steam Controller and Xbox 360 ones from when I owned the console back in the day. I do believe the Steam Controller is better, especially for its programmable features, but at the same time it's its biggest flaw. Most of the times I just want it to work out of the box, not dedicating time to test what's the best way of controlling a game, and in that the xbox controller excels.

Maybe, if I was a competitive gamer, my experience would be different and I would re-map buttons constantly seeking those extra milisec that would give me an advantage.

I am a southpaw and not only I use my mouse with the left hand, the left button on the mouse seems so much more intuitive than the right button for "main" functions, and to me the steam controller looks so much like a mouse, that I can't stand the steam default of using the right button as the mouse 1 button. I switch it everytime, and steam is bugged and sometimes switches it back for no reason. Also, I strongly disagree with most default configurations for joysticks, so all together, I would remap everything anyway -- specially for complex games full of shortcuts like X: Rebirth, Total Wars and a couple RPGs.

But you're right, it is a huge amount of work. Sometimes it takes me 2 hours just to iterate back and forth from the game to sc-controller and get the configuration just right. It's kinda fun, but it's too long.
On the the other hand when developers try their hand at making a default mapping they often times show just how much they are used to use other controllers and didn't take the time to use the steam controller in full.
Seriously the steam controller offers you so many options that often times its biggest draw back is how much it looks like a regular controller. Lots of people are trying to fit a regular control scheme into it rather than trying to take advantage of its features. Its somewhat dismaying at times...
Dunc Sep 27, 2018
Quoting: GuestAs for rumble on the Steam Controller: I'm no programmer, but if anyone can implement the concept of heterodyning and difference ("beat" ) waves between the two haptic pads (one of the few advantages of having two pads, imo) ... I think that could go a long way in becoming a valid substitute for rumble motors.
Sounds reasonable. My problem is that rumble emulation just doesn't work at all here. But my impression of the haptic drivers is that they could probably get pretty close to “real” rumble if used properly.

Since we're all nitpicking now, yes, the face buttons are a little small (they could probably stand a slight increase in size without altering the placement; they feel a bit too far apart as they are), although I don't find them too loose. On the other hand, the tactile switches on the trackpads and the shoulder buttons are too stiff and harsh. I kind of understand why they're so stiff on the trackpads - you don't want to press them by accident as you whizz your virtual trackball around - but surely they could have found nicer, quieter, ones than that? And overall, the whole thing's maybe just a tiny shade too big. But that's subjective; there are people here using the XBox Duke. That thing's gigantic. :)
TheSyldat Sep 27, 2018
Quoting: DuncAnd overall, the whole thing's maybe just a tiny shade too big. But that's subjective; there are people here using the XBox Duke. That thing's gigantic. :)
I thought so when I received my first one two years ago but now I actually end up in various case scenarios with some few games where I wish for it be a bit more spacious atually. (My thumbs are insanely long almost have longer thumbs than your average pianist ... therefore my thumbs never trully are in a resting postion and when I play long sessions of Geometry Wars 3 I end up feeling it more than it should really )

Geometry Wars 3 has a setting where both touchpads are considered the joysticks, so firing and moving are done through swipping on the touch pads . And after three hours of play my thumbs are crying for help it shouldn't be the case .


Last edited by TheSyldat on 27 September 2018 at 4:21 pm UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.